‘Game of Thrones’: Behind the Scenes of the Final Season With the Cast (PHOTOS)

arrow - left
arrow - right
GOT BTS finale cover
Gemma Whelan, Gwendoline Christie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau via Instagram
GOT BTS finale sophie 1
Sophie Turner/Instagram

And now their watch has ended… Sophie Turner shared this big group image with the caption, “I’ll miss this more than anything.”

GOT BTS finale gemma whelan
Gemma Whelan/Instagram

“New make up chap,” wrote Gemma Whelan alongside this image of star Kit Harington pampering his onscreen siblings Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright and Sophie Turner.

GOT BTS finale john
John Bradley/Instagram

John Bradley bid farwell to his character with this image on social media featuring his original schedule from the first season.

GOT BTS finale sophie
Sophie Turner/Instagram

Sophie Turner shared this image on Instagram following the series finale with the caption, “The pack survived.”

GOT BTS finale pilou 1
Pilou Asbæk/Instagram

This green-screen scene was shared by star Pilou Asbæk ahead of his final episode.

Game of Thrones finale Pilou Asbæk
Pilou Asbæk/Instagram

“Thanks @nikolajwilliamcw,” Pilou Asbæk wrote on Instagram alongside this image. “Two men enter, One man leaves…. it’s been such a pleasure working with you!!! Oh and sorry about last night…didn’t know you were in a hurry…. don’t have that many friends on #gameofthrones and just wanted to hang out on the beach…” he joked about their final scene together.

GOT BTS finale nikolaj
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau/Instagram

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau commemorated his character’s last episode with this photo and the caption, “The best, sweetest most wonderful sister from another mother @iamlenaheadey . That was a fun decade.”

Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Lena Headey/Instagram

Lena Headey shared her own photo alongside her onscreen twin. “When @nikolajwilliamcw and I wore jellyfish … I fucking love you ya big weirdo,” she wrote.

GOT BTS finale kristofer
Kristofer Hivju/Instagram

Kristofer Hivju shared this selfie with costar Rory McCann from between scenes.

GOT BTS finale gemma whelan 1
Gemma Whelan/Instagram

Gemma Whelan who plays Yara Greyjoy shared this photo with her baby between takes on the finale.

GOT BTS finale gwendoline 1
Gwendoline Christie/Instagram

Gwendoline Christie captioned this image, “being told the ending to @gameofthrones.”

GOT BTS finale emilia
Emilia Clarke/Instagram

“This is what it took not only to shoot ep5…but to watch it too!” Emilia Clarke wrote alongside this hilarious photo.

GOT BTS finale dan portman-alfie allen
Alfie Allen/Instagram

Alfie Allen shared this image in his Insta-story with costars Isaac Hempstead Wright and Dan Portman.

GOT BTS finale gwendoline
Gwendoline Christie/Instagram

Gwendoline Christie bid adieu to her character Brienne of Tarth with this touching image of her embracing an AD she identifies as Ciaran in an Instagram post.

GOTBTS long night 2
Isaac Hempstead Wright/Instagram

“Here’s a still taken from the alternate episode 3 ending in which the Night King becomes Bran’s carer and they both live happily ever after,” star Isaac Hempstead Wright wrote alongside this photo taken during filming.

GOTBTS long night 1
Emilia Clarke/Instagram

Emilia Clarke lamented her costar Iain Glen’s exit with the above photo accompanied with the caption, “YOURE SIMPLY THE BEST, BETTER THAN ALL THE REST, BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE IVE EVER MET…..”

GOTBTS long night 3
Vladimír Furdík/Instagram

Arya may have killed the Night King, but there are no hard feelings between Vladimír Furdík — the actor who played the villain — and Maisie Williams as he shared this photo with the caption, “She killed me with a smile.”

GOTBTS long night 8
Carice van Houten/Instagram

“Did most of my scenes high on Earl Grey tea with milk and honey,” Carice van Houten wrote alongside this image of her on set.

GOTBTS long night 6
Kristofer Hivju/Instagram

“GiantKILLER and Mr. GiantBABE!What a blast to work with @bellaramsey A super talented, hard working and fearless actor (and warrior!)” Kristofer Hivju wrote in tribute to departing star Bella Ramsey.

GOTBTS long night 4
Alfie Allen/Instagram

Star Alfie Allen paid tribute to his character Theon with this photo and touching caption. “Its been so touching to read how Theon has affected fans of GoT,” he wrote. “To be given the opportunity to challenge and question people’s emotions through a characters journey that was given to me by D&D and George R Martin… is something I am extremely thankful for. What an honour it has been. Thank you.”

Daniel Portman - Game of Thrones - Behind the Scenes
Daniel Portman/Instagram

Daniel Portman shared this image ahead of “The Long Night” episode which featured the Battle of Winterfell.

GOTBTS long night 5
Pilou Asbæk/Instagram

“[Kristofer Hivju] and I doing selfies while illustrating what’s to come… not only on GOT but life in general,” wrote Pilou Asbæk. “Photos taken almost two years ago at the table read….or is it???….!!! Cheers!!!”

GOTBTS new 1
Gwendoline Christie/Instagram

“OH MY POD!” Gwendoline Christie wrote alongside the above photo as she directed her sentiment towards costar Daniel Portman. “Spending the last five seasons with the absolutely wonderfully talented Daniel Podrick Portmanteau has been a POD-SEND! I love you and I miss you and I can’t wait to watch you bloom through the rest of your career! IF YOU WERE A BAG, YOU’D BE A BAG-FOR-LIFE.”

GOTBTS new 3
Emilia Clarke/Instagram

While this image may not be from set, Emilia Clarke shared this photo of herself and Kit Harington shortly after her character Daenerys learns about Jon’s true identity. “The family portrait,” she captioned it.

Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage with muppets
Helen Sloan for Lena Headey's Instagram

When two worlds collide. “SUCH A GOOD DAY AT WORK,” Lena Headey captioned this photo of herself on set with costar Peter Dinklage and some familiar faces from Sesame Street.

GOTBTS emilia clarke 1
Emilia Clarke/Instagram

“Me and my baby (dragon) (Drogon) just very excited for you all to see #season8gameofthrones which if I’m not mistaken begins….now,” wrote Emilia Clarke beside the photo above.

Kristofer Hivju - Game Of Thrones Behind The Scenes
Kristofer Hivju/Instagram

“Great shot by Mr. Kit Harington,” Kristofer Hivju, who plays Tormund, captioned the candid behind-the-scenes photo.

GOTBTS Carice van Houten
Carice van Houten/Instagram

“Best hair job I’ve ever had,” Melisandre actress Carice van Houten wrote beside this image of her in the character’s wig.

GOTBTS emilia clarke 2
Emilia Clarke/Instagram

Conleth Hill, John Bradley, Emilia Clarke and showrunner D.B. Weiss posed for this selfie posted on Clarke’s Instagram page.

GOTBTS gwendoline christie 1
Gwendoline Christie/Instagram

Gwendoline Christie shared this image of her with costar Nikolaj Coster-Waldau behind the scenes.

GOTBTS lena headey 4
Lena Headey/Instagram

Star Lena Headey shared this picture of her and costar Pilou Asbæk with the caption, “Who wore it best.”

GOTBTS sophie turner 1
Sophie Turner/Instagram

Sophie Turner rang in the new season by sharing this snapshot which she captioned, “In honour of the final season of Thrones premiering tonight …. Here’s a picture of me asleep on set.”

GOTBTS maisie williams 1
Maisie Williams/Instagram

Maisie Williams captioned the photo of her blood covered shoes with, “goodbye belfast. goodbye arya. goodbye game of thrones. what a joy i’ve had. here’s to the adventures to come.”

GOTBTS carice van houten 1
Carice van Houten/Instagram

“For the night is dark and full of KITKAT @maisie_williams,” wrote van Houten in this image that appears to be taken by costar Maisie Williams.

GOTBTS lena headey 3
Lena Headey/Instagram

“Best Bro,” Headey wrote beside this photo of herself and onscreen brother Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

GOTBTS lena headey 2
Lena Headey/Instagram

“Season 8 … Hair and Teeth … HAIR AND TEETH !!!” Headey captioned this image of her with makeup and hair crew members Candice Banks and Kev Alexander.

GOTBTS raleigh ritchie 1
Raleigh Ritchie/Instagram

Star Jacob Anderson celebrated the show’s return by sharing this image. He captioned the selfie with costars Emilia Clarke and Nathalie Emmanuel, “In the immortal words of Chance The Rapper – ‘And we back and we back and we back and we back…'”

1 of

Though Game of Thrones has finished its final season, we can’t help but reflect on the time it took between the last episodes and Season 7.

During the show’s long on-air hiatus, the stars of Thrones were busy creating memories with some awesome behind-the-scenes photos. From tributes to their characters to the funny appearance of pre-special effects dragons, the stars have captured a lot from the set. So, to celebrate the show’s final season, we’ve collected some of their behind-the-scenes photos in this gallery.

Click through the images above for a look into Season 8’s lighter moments when the cameras weren’t rolling.