See Anthrax's Scott Ian Become a Game of Thrones White Walker

First things first: this post and the video above contain spoilers, so proceed at your own risk! 

For his Bloodworks YouTube series with Nerdist, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian talks to the people who create special effects for film and television, specifically those who deal in fake blood and gore. For his latest installment, Ian paid a visit to prosthetic makeup designer Barrie Gower to see how the White Walkers in Game of Thrones are brought to life, and got to experience the transformation firsthand.

Gower gives Ian a tour of his workshop, where there are dozens of makeup appliances and costumes for the White Walkers (the undead army seen in the hit series). Explaining the process of preparing for season five's Hardhome episode, which featured one of the largest practical effects sequences in the series to date, the designer told Ian that they looked to another popular television show for inspiration.

"Of course the first thing we're going to look at is Walking Dead, because we're huge Walking Dead fans," Gower said. "[But] as much as we want to look at what other people are doing, we also want to do something pretty original as well." The climax featured hundreds of extras on a large set in Belfast and was shot over the course of four weeks, Gower revealed. At the center of it all was White Walker X, whom Ian was transformed into for the day.

The screen time for the White Walkers and the wights in the series has been limited so far, and after seeing an abridged look at the work that goes into making them ready for the camera, we can understand why.

[h/t Nerdist]

Images via Nerdist/YouTube.