As Game of Thrones season 4 nears, the official production blog has given us a few new sneak peek pictures from the set!

2013 is coming to an end, and 2014 will be the year that brings us Game of Thrones season 4.

Production is complete, and now the post-production team is working hard editing the episodes together and adding those special effects that continue to blow our minds year after year.

To help us pass the wait, Cat Taylor is faithfully uploading the Making Game of Thrones blog, and the most recent entry gives us an idea of what’s to come, with this image from the big season 4, episode 9 battle:

Neil Marshall, who famously directed season 2, episode 9 “Blackwater,” is returning for what is shaping up to be an even bigger battle episode.

Taylor teases, “This time the fight Neil is navigating is not anywhere on the water. [And] although this battle will not be laden with wildfire, I can say you’ve never seen an army like this on ‘Game of Thrones.’”

We also get a picture showing a bit of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke)’s story, across the Narrow Sea in Slaver’s Bay:

Taylor writes of the experience, “While there are some specific locations we can’t confirm for security reasons, it was amazing to be able to see so many places in such a beautiful country in such a unique way. The back streets of Old Town and the coastal hotels redressed into fortresses were a sight to see… And it’s not every day you have to cut because someone is doing speedboat tricks in the background of your scene. (Seriously.)”

Game of Thrones season 4 premieres in the spring of 2014, presumably late March or early April. It consists of 10 episodes total, and roughly spans the second half of George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords novel.