As Game of Thrones is apt to remind us ahead of the seventh season premiere, winter is here. But in London, winter arrived a few days early as the Night King and his fleet of White Walkers made their claim on the city.
On Tuesday, several White Walkers were spotted in London as part of a promotional stunt for Sky Atlantic, which airs Game of Thrones in the U.K. Like their TV counterparts, they didn’t say much of anything. But they didn’t need to. Their looks were intimidating enough for casual gawkers and commuters in central London. And they looked rather at home in front of Buckingham Palace.
According to Sky, it took eight weeks to build the White Walker costumes and four hours for the five actors playing the Night King and White Walkers to create their look with the help of prosthetics, body paint artists, and stylists. The stunt was a way for Sky to celebrate winter’s imminent arrival in Game of Thrones, despite it still being summer in the U.K.
“With Jon Snow crowned King in the North, Cersei on the Iron Throne, Daenerys Targaryen and her colossal armada crossing the seven seas to Westeros and the Night King moving south at the helm of a truly terrifying army of the dead, the greatest battles are truly ahead of us,” Zai Bennett, Director of Programmes for Sky Entertainment UK and Ireland, said in a statement. “With this in mind it seemed fitting to unleash our very own troop of White Walkers on locations across the UK.”
And as the White Walkers walked around central London’s landmarks, people took plenty of pictures.
https://twitter.com/skyatlantic/status/884745446073257984
It's a long way from Westeros! White Walkers are seen in London ahead of #GameofThrones series 7 premiere 🙈
— Reality Bite Writes (@RealityWrite) July 11, 2017
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By the end of Game of Thrones’ sixth season, the White Walkers were still safely beyond the Wall as Bran Stark made his way south. But it looks like they crossed over the real-life inspiration for the Wall—Hadrian’s Wall—to get into the U.K.’s capital city.
It was nice knowing you, London.