The return of Benjen Stark was one of the dramatic reveals of last week’s “Blood of my Blood.” But not only was the unveiling of the character a dramatic moment, his rescue of Meera and Bran from the wights was a complex fight sequence with hardcore stunt work, including a horse and a flail on fire. Even though one could sense the stuntmen were having a *lot* of fun with it just from the finished sequence, it was still one that had to be plotted out carefully, for the safety of all, as well as maximizing the best camera angles.
That, of course, is where storyboarding comes in. Once again, Making Game of Thrones provides, with a post containing the initial drawings created by Will Simpson to plot out how the sequence would go.
Note that the prop he’s using is referred to an an Iron Ball, and the idea seems to be that it’s not initially on fire, but springs into flame. That was sort of lost on screen–but it does feed into the theory some of put forth that the weapon Benjen is using is actually of the same family as the Children of the Forest’s magical golden grenades. (Also “Magical Golden Grenades” is the name of my next punk band.)
Apparently the sequence we got, which included three separate wights biting it in various manners, from exploding into bits to catching completely on fire was not originally planned out in the storyboards. I’m guessing that the stunt guys added that in as they choreographed it out (which might explain why that sequence felt like they were having so much fun.)
The other interesting thing is that the ending was apparently a little different then what we saw on screen.
That bit about “the dead don’t rest” and there being a break in the action where Benjen dismounts was not originally part of the idea. In fact, they were supposed to blast through an entire squadron of them as they rode out of there. Much more difficult than the final sequence that they went with.
Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/06/02/storyboarding-benjens-big-return/
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