Westeros

For those who’ve missed it, here is our discussion of changes, background details, and this and that concerning House of the Dragon‘s second episode, “Rhaenyra the Cruel”:

See below for some extra videos from HBO, including the teaser for next week’s episode, the Inside the Episode, and a segment from The House the Dragon Built

Earlier this week, Linda and I had the pleasure to once again interview House of the Dragon co-creator and show runner Ryan Condal. As we were able to do it after the airing of the first episode (you’ll find our video discussing the episode here), the fact that a lot of fans asked us to ask about the changes to Blood and Cheese when adapting Fire and Blood to the screen is a major topic. We also discuss new props, books he has read for research purposes, the new opening, the possibility of a new opening theme from Ramin Djawadi, unsung heroes of the production, and more!

This last month has been one of the busiest I can remember, with road trips to neighboring Norway and Denmark and all sorts of other things, so we’ve been a bit behind in getting the initial content out for episode one, “A Son for a Son”. We’re now trying to rectify that by catching up with a report on our attending a special screening of the premiere episode of House of the Dragon in Stockholm, including some thoughts in sparked in response to a critic’s commentary on the cinematography of the new season.

But first, one part of being so busy is that while we pushed out our commentary video soon after the first episode aired, we thought we’d make a post about it sometime during what turned out to be a very long evening post-screening. So, for those who’ve missed it, here’s our video:

And now to discussing the screening, and whether the show’s cinematography has gotten worse since Miguel Sapochnik left.

Linda and Elio at the post-screening afterparty.

Via HBO, we’ve received our very first look at Peter Claffey as Dunk in Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, as they announce the beginning of production. Not only that, but the press release reveals some of the actors cast in leading roles in the production. See below!

Ser Duncan the Tall at Ashford.

It’s not usual for HBO to do this even before the premiere, but it seemed a foregone conclusion to everyone (including GRRM and Ryan Condal, based on remarks they have made) that House of the Dragon would see at least one more season. But now the word is official, via a press release from HBO:

Short and sweet, as they say.

The good folks at the WB Shop have sent the ravens out to inform the realm that “All Must Choose”... among the many new branded House of the Dragon items, from apparel to games, books to sunglasses, and much much more! Below you’ll find images of just a sampling of items, and further details with some links for some particularly choice items!

Over at Not a Blog, George R.R. Martin has extended his congratulations to playwright Eboni Booth for her recent Pulitzer Prize for her dramatic play, “Primary Trust”.

This may seem rather random, except GRRM goes on to reveal that she is the latest screenwriter to try and develop the story of Nymeria and the Ten Thousand Ships into a pilot for HBO:

Princess Nymeria as depicted by J.K. Drummond for The World of Ice and Fire