Game of Thrones season 8 star reveals which episode Night King battle will take place

It's arriving much earlier than expected

One of the stars of Game of Thrones has revealed a huge detail about the eighth and final season.

With the HBO fantasy epic’s final six episodes set to be comprised of numerous showdowns, Vladimir Furdik – who plays the villainous Night King – has revealed when exactly the season’s biggest (and most costly) battle will take place.

Speaking to Hungarian website Sorozat Wiki, he seemed to confirm the battle the series has been building to since its very first episode in 2011 will arrive much earlier than anticipated.

“In the third part of the last season, there is a battle that the creators intend to be the biggest in television history,” Furdik said. “Almost the full episode will be about the battle, it will take about an hour.”

Much has been reported about this battle with sources calling it the show’s “biggest” sequence to date. It was completed after two and a half month’s worth of night shoots in Toome, the location used for Winterfell. According to reports, it’s the most expensive battle ever filmed for television.

The shoot doubled the record for the duration of any past battle sequence featured in the series. Many expected the showdown, which will see long-standing enemies unite to defeat the Night King’s army, to arrive toward the end of the season – however, Furdik’s revelation means the back half of the season will focus on the small case of the Iron Throne.

Co-executive producer Bryan Cogman described the episode as being about “...all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death.”

HBO executives have revealed that several main characters will die in the final few episodes of the series which will draw to a close with the eighth season.

Casting has begun on the first of HBO’s planned prequels with Naomi Watts and Poldark star Josh Whitehouse set to appear.

Game of Thrones will return to HBO and Sky Atlantic in April.