Fire and blood.

Never before on Game of Thrones have the ominous words of House Targaryen felt so tangible and terrifying as they did during last night’s stunning final sequence. When Daenerys finally let Drogon loose on Westeros against the Lannister forces, the result was lots of crispy fried soldiers and one of the most amazing moments in television history. But if you think fighting both a Dothraki horde and a dragon the size of an airplane was difficult, wait until you see what went into making it.

In this behind-the-scenes featurette from HBO, the show’s creators and crew talk about the massive amount of work that went into the fiery attack the maesters will be writing about for thousands of years. They’ll probably need that long to wrap their heads around how they managed to have hundreds of soldiers and 27 wagons bathed in dragonflame, a process that required numerous cameras to capture. That includes a camera that can zip through the air at 70 miles per hour, another attached to a “souped up drone,” and one on a tricked out pickup truck.

The only downside to this entire battle is that HBO has named it the “Loot Train Attack,” which doesn’t really capture the moment as say Aegon the Conqueror’s similar “Field of Fire” attack does. But it’s okay, since it did include them breaking the all-time filming record by setting 20 men on fire for one single shot.

Seeing the entire sequence, which was filmed in Los Barruecos Cáceres, Spain, from behind the camera makes it somehow feel even less believable they were able to pull it off. Although, now that they have figured out a way to get an entire cavalry of crazy warriors to stand on their horses and shoot a bow and arrow we’re not going to accept anything else. The bar has been set!

As insane as all of this is–from the pyrotechnics, to so many extras being set on fire (I really love the whole “you need to stay calm when you are engulfed in flames and make sure you don’t breath” insight), to the various ways it was all filmed and how practical effects were seamlessly mixed with VFX–the most surprising bit of news here is how season six of the show only featured 11 shots of Emilia Clarke riding Drogon, whereas this one single battle had over 80 of them.

It had to be frustrating for her to be filming those shots in Belfast against a green screen, especially now that she can see how amazing the whole sequence looked, from both her and Jaime’s point of views.

Speaking of the Mother of Dragons, there was one bit of potential insight here amid all of the technical prowess. Early in the video she explained how and why Daenerys came to this moment of mass dragon destruction.

“Every time that something goes wrong, more Targaryen comes out. She starts to take matters into her own hands.”

Questions about Daenerys turning into the “Mad Queen” like her fire-loving father seemed to have been answered last season, when she spared most of the soldiers in the Battle of Meereen, and Cersei seemed to take the mantle by blowing up the Sept of Baelor with the Mad King’s cache of wildfire. But watching Daenerys melt men in their suits of armor in a wave of dragonflame reminded us just how House Targaryen first came to power, and why we should always be worried about her becoming the real Mad Queen.

She has always tried to be a benevolent ruler, but that attitude resulted in her foolishly locking up her dragons, the Sons of the Harpy terrorizing her city, rebellions in the other cities of Slaver’s Bay, and it ended up with her quickly losing her allies in Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Reach. Tyrion desperately tried to keep her from unleashing dragons on Westeros, but when she was backed into a corner she turned towards the greatest weapon the world has ever known.

And it worked.

What will she do now if something else goes wrong? What if she suffers another setback, especially one as bad as Drogon being killed? How much more Targaryen will come out then? Because when Targaryens takes matters into their own hands it can only mean one thing for everyone else.

Fire and blood.

What about this sequence most impressed you? Bend the knee to our comments section below and set it on fire with your thoughts.

For more Game of Thrones, check out why Littlefinger’s gift to Bran will backfire, why Drogon was the MVP of Episode 4, and how IMDB might have spoiled a certain character’s return.

Images: HBO