This advertisment from Time Warner Cable is just about the cutest use of a baby weapon of mass destruction I’ve ever seen:

A reminder that tomorrow evening—and by evening, we mean 7:30PM Pacific Time (10:30PM on the east coast, and if I’m calculating right 3:30 AM where we are)—there’ll be a live webcast of “An Evening with Game of Thrones”, a panel discussion with members of the cast and crew (including producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, and creator George R.R. Martin) hosted by Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Here’s the full list of panelists:

• DAVID BENIOFF Creator/Executive Producer
• D.B. WEISS Creator/Executive Producer
• GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Co-Executive Producer
• PETER DINKLAGE Tyrion Lannister
• NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU Jaime Lannister
• LENA HEADEY Cersei Lannister
• KIT HARINGTON Jon Snow
• MICHELLE FAIRLEY Catelyn Stark
• SOPHIE TURNER Sansa Stark
• MAISIE WILLIAMS Arya Stark

The second official trailer for Game of Thrones is now out. Quite a lot of new stuff here—including Tormund Giantsbane speaking, some quick looks at Daario Naharis, and more:

Must find time to screencap…

And yet another brand new Game of Thrones preview for season 3, showing fleeting glimpses of some new scenes we’ve never glimpsed before, including some of Stannis and Melisandre, Jaime and Brienne, Arya and Gendry, and more:

Nice—HBO has released a new tease for season 3…. which is all about war, naturally. It gives us our very first good look at Noah Taylor as Locke (a new character introduced to take over some of the function of Vargo Hoat). Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering if he has six fingers on one hand?

EW, with its bevy of exclusive interviews now being posted, has gone the extra mile: it latest issue is a Game of Thrones extravaganza, starting right with its cover featuring Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in costume as Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen.

EW has more information about what to expect… including a nice, spoilerish synopsis of some season highlights:

So, eager to hear a little bit about what the first episode will reveal to those watching? HBO teases the season premiere episode “Valar Dohaeris”, and runs through a lengthy list of notable returning and new cast members, in a press release they’ve sent to the media. As there’s spoilers herein, to some degree, we’re just going to put everything under the cut… so click on through!

Over at EW, James Hibberd has posted the first of fifteen exclusive interviews ahead of the March 31st premiere of Game of Thrones. The first interview features Gwendoline Christie—Brienne of Tarth on the show—discussing initial reactions to her casting and her character’s journey, with just a wee bit of detail regarding scenes she’s filmed for this season.

Check it out, and keep an eye on the #EWThrones hashtag on Twitter to learn when the rest of the interviews are published, as they will be once each weekday until the premiere.

Eager to make sure fans who’ve been waiting for the third season are fully caught up to speed, HBO has prepared a recap program that covers key story and thematic points of the last season, along with commentary from actors and producers along the way. Check it out below:

While the traveling exhibit is just about to open in Toronto (with special guest Rose Leslie, aka Ygritte), fans who won’t be able to make it to the locations can still get a taste of what you might see there thanks to the wonders of the internet.

Over at the official Making Game of Thrones production blog, propmaster Gordon Fitzgerald provides some great insight into the process of making props for the show, which certainly has some of the best production values in television (and, I have to say, one of the best crews in television):

And then, via Cat Taylor, we learn that concept artist Will Simpson now has a Facebook fan page where he’s sharing some of the art he has created for the show. Never seen his gift to GRRM before!

The annual “Power Issue” of Sports Illustrated is on its way, and this time around it seems the editors have chosen a Game of Thrones theme. Not only does NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sit on the Iron Throne on the cover, as he’s ranked the #1 most powerful person in sport, but artist John Hendrix provides this very cool depiction of the modern day sports empires re-envisioned A Song of Ice and Fire style. “The Land of Always Hockey” is particularly choice.

It also sounds like Richard Deitsch of SI will soon be posting a podcast with George R.R. Martin:

Told my podcast and Q&A with @gameofthrones king George R. R. Martin will post today. You’ll enjoy his thoughts on Bill Belichick.

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) March 6, 2013

To learn more about the issue, visit the Sports Illustrated website.

At some point, I need to gather up all these interviews with actors that have been sneaking out the last month or two, and just make a big post with them all. Until then, however, here’s a interview with Rose Leslie, who plays Ygritte on Game of Thrones, courtesy of Access Hollywood. Nice to hear from her, as she didn’t get much in the way of attention for the second season when her role was something of a late entry into the series.

James Hibberd at EW has another scoop regarding season 3 of Game of Thrones. Just as with last year’s reveal that The National performed “The Rains of Castamere” for the show, indie rock band The Hold Steady are performing a rendition of—get this—“The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, a very popular bit of song in Westeros.

Hibberd quotes the producers:

So, that will be rather interesting to hear. I’m guessing it’ll be included on the official soundtrack for season 3, as well… and may well be released as a single before hand.

It’s now live, quite surprisingly—we had supposed it’d premiere on Sunday, but nope, HBO has given us a little early gift. Some nice new moments, though it’s not in fact a full 2 minutes long:

Valyrian Steel, makers of replicas based on the novels and the TV series, have announced the latest replica in their Game of Thrones line: the Stark infantry shield, an exact copy of those used on the television show. These are already available for preorder, and should be released for Spring 2013. Fortunately, they’re not a limited run (as the ASoIaF-based replicas, made with George R.R. Martin’s direct input, are) so there should be plenty of time to save your pennies and groats.