The stars came out on Friday night for the final series premiere of Game Of Thrones – in the “home” of the hit HBO fantasy.
They gathered at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast to finish the show where it all began.
Episodes have been shot everywhere from Iceland to Morocco but most were filmed in the North, where the GoT economy is worth €150million.
Irish actor Conleth Hill, who plays Lord Varys, revealed he had to lobby the Game Of Thrones bosses to have the Season 8 premiere here.
The proud 54-year-old said: “I lobbied for this so hard because we had gone everywhere else, well not everywhere else in the world, but we’d gone to a lovely place.
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“And I wasn’t complaining about that but this is where we started it so it is nice we are finishing it here and having the last premiere here.”
Conleth, from Ballycastle, Co Antrim, wasn’t the only cast member crediting the Irish city’s role in the highly successful series.
Fellow Irishman Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, said the show wouldn’t have been made possible without the Irish landscape.
He added: “You couldn’t have done Game of Thrones anywhere else because if you think about the logistics of the size of the project for us to have a castle 20 minutes away, a harbour half an hour away. You can’t move a production this size. This would have cost billions in any other country but it is all so compact.
“We never had to travel for more than an hour and when you’ve got a production this size you need that proximity so Northern Ireland made that feasible. We are indebted to it.
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“This is a real one, it’s like a homecoming, because there are loads of the crew here as well.
“It’s the best thing. It is the home of Game of Thrones.”
The CEO of Northern Ireland Screens, Richard Williams, said it seemed fitting to be Belfast for the special night, dubbing the city “the undisputed Home of Thrones”.
Meanwhile, American Emmy winning executive producer Bernie Caulfield said it was an emotional night to bid farewell to their beloved city. Getting emotional introducing the first episode of the last ever season, she said: “Tonight I have the great honour of speaking about our beloved Belfast.
“Since 2009 – see it gets me choked up – it has been the home of Game of Thrones. We feel honoured and fortunate to call Belfast our home.”
The premiere will go down in history as one of the most star studded A-list bashes ever hosted in the North.
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The highly-anticipated viewing saw an exclusive list of around 700 guests, including many of the blockbuster series’ star cast in attendance.
This included Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark. Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Jerome Flynn (Bronn) (Yara Greyjoy), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), John Bradley (Samwell Tarley), (Euron Greyjoy) and Carice Van Houten (Mellisandre Red Witch) also stepped out on the night.
The final series will air in Ireland and the UK on Sky Atlantic from 2am on Monday, April 15.
All six episodes are expected to surpass the billion viewer mark.
After an agonising two-year wait for fans, winter is finally here.
