Westeros

We’ve noted this via social media, but forgot to post about it: through February 27, Amazon.com is offering selected HBO programs at special prices, with savings of as muc has 60%. And, yes, Game of Thrones is part of it with 42% and 44% off the DVD and Blu-ray complete first season sets. It must be doing pretty well, because presently the Blu-ray is #3 on Amazon’s Blu-ray bestseller list.

But the other thing we noted at social media, as we were heading out for a day on the town, was that something had arrived: courtesy of HBO, Linda and I now have the Blu-ray set. We couldn’t watch any of it yesterday, but we’ve just started today and it’s as gorgeous and high-end a compilation as you can imagine. The very first thing we looked at? The Complete Guide to Westeros, and specifically the Histories & Lore section which I do believe were written by Bryan Cogman, whom we’ve interviewed previously.

The various segments, covering selected parts of the history of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms, are read by a number of different actors, speaking a their characters. Our favorites? Charles Dance’s phlegmatic Tywin on the Night’s Watch (“Fairy tales”) and the Mad King, and Harry Lloyd as Viserys on everything he reads, because he absolutely projects his character and the writing is especially good when you get his very warped sense of recent Targaryen history. Other reads include Isaac Hampstead-Wright as Bran, Michelle Fairley as Catelyn, Richard Madden as Robb, Mark Addy as Robert, and Donald Sumper as Maester Luwin.

The best part of these segments is the ones where multiple characters provide different takes on events, such as the Sack of King’s Landing, which feels appropriate to the setting of the series. It does mean there’s a bit of repetition, it’s true, but still, very nice.

You can get a simple of one of the Histories & Lores segment, and more details about the set, here.

Some trivial details before wrapping up: for those who hate the boxes that have the big Blu-ray notice blazoned across them, never fear—it’s basically just a bit of cardboard placed over the box that can be removed. And for those in Europe who are curious, here’s the full list of subtitle languages:

More comments when we get a chance to watch a bit more, time permitting.