“Game of Thrones” showrunner David Benioff told fans at Comic-Con International on Friday a delay in screening the new series had been unavoidable, because “winter is here.”
The hit fantasy epic has been teasing winter’s arrival since its pilot episode, and with the season six finale entitled “The Winds of Winter,” the camera crew has been forced to wait for colder weather.
“Winter is here, and we’ve got to shoot in places with trees and wait for the leaves to turn,” Benioff told Comic-Con’s packed 6,5000-seat Hall H.
He was joined at the San Diego fanfest by cast members including Liam Cunningham, Sophie Turner and the departing Kristian Nairn, as well as director Miguel Sapochnik.
The show usually premieres in April, but Benioff said the later start would allow more time to film during colder weather.
Nairn received a standing ovation from the Comic-Con crowd, who chanted “Hodor, Hodor” in honor of one of the show’s best loved characters.
“I did not expect it to be so crazy, I’m really, really flattered — it’s blown my mind,” the 40-year-old Northern Irish actor said.
The panel were asked who would win the Iron Throne and Sapochnik answered that he “would be very happy if they shared it, but I don’t think that is going to happen.”
Iwan Rheon, who plays the sadistic Ramsay Bolton, got cheers from the audience when he said he would “melt the thing down and have a democracy.” “I have this image of a white walker sitting on the throne,” Cunningham said. “But what do I know?”

Source: Arab News