Westeros

Back in early September, the news swept the fandom that French/Canadian game company Cyanide Studios, creators of the real time strategy game Game of Thrones: Genesis and a then-untitled RPG based on A Song of Ice and Fire, had basically turned that RPG into the official HBO Game of Thrones game, with access to actors from the show (for voice acting), music, and more.

Dynamite Entertainment’s George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones continues! The second issue hits shelves tomorrow in the U.S., featuring art by Tommy F. Patterson and scripting by author Daniel Abraham.

The cover for this issue features more art by the famed Alex Ross featuring Tyrion Lannister, with a special incentive cover by fan-favorite Mike S. Miller that revisits his depiction of Robert fighting Rhaegar at the Trident.

You can find your nearest comic shop using Diamond’s Comic Shop Locator.

The increasingly social nature of the internet has begun to invade all aspects of life for many users of the internet, whether it’s watching TV shows communaly via Get Glue or Hulu, rating sporting events interactively while they’re going on, or forwarding and commenting news articles.

Now that invasion has gone a step forward, thanks to a company by the name of Subtext (link to the app in the iTunes store—US only presently) and check out the previews of thebooks they currently provide Subtext social features for… including A Game of Thrones, of course!

The Big Bang Theory featured Valyrian Steel’s Longclaw, presented there as being a replica of the sword from the TV series. Not long after,  the executive producer of BBT, Bill Prady, tweeted that the sword would now become a permanent part of the show’s set.

And now we can see it, in the very next episode, “The Rhinitis Revelation”. For those in the U.S., you can actually watch the video of the episode here, where the best glimpse of the sword—on the wall with its decorative heraldic crest featuring a white direwolf and the words “Winter is Coming”—can be seen at about the 6:30 mark. And for those who aren’t in the U.S., here’s a quick screen grab.

We’ve all been waiting for the first signs of the Game of Thrones first season DVD & Blu-Ray box set… and it seems to have arrived with strong suggestions that the discs will role out in at least several countries in March 2012, approximately 1 month before the premiere of season 2 of the series. First off, in the UK, the British Video Association notes a March 19 date for the release over there (UK Preoder: DVD, Blu-Ray). And France appears to be even luckier, with Warner Brothers France indicating a March 7th date—quick work!

What does this mean for the US? It really does seem that the ides of March, give or take a week, are what we should be looking at for the release of the DVD and Blu-Ray sets (US Preorder: DVD, Blu-Ray). We can be sure that there’ll be a lot of extras on the sets, including some audition tapes for actors, behind-the-scenes footage never seen before, and episode commentaries—and from what we’ve heard, that may just be the start!

An interesting interview at NY Magazine cropped up. It starts out discussing Game of Thrones—revealing for the first time that while Sean Bean may have been the first choice for Ned, the producers hedged their bets (probably due to uncertainty at the actor’s availabiity) by auditioning additional actors—but then shifts to some very interesting questions regarding A Dance with Dragons... particularly one bit in it which appears to have given Martin significant pause before he answered it. Hrm….

Well worth reading, and not just because Westeros.org and the in-progress World of Ice Fire world book are mentioned! Also, for those new to the site, this interview—and many, many others over the years—are linked at the So Spake Martin collection.

Two new opportunities for fans to show their appreciation for HBO’s Game of Thrones. First off, the People’s Choice Awards are currently canvassing for nominations… and everyone’s favorite fantasy drama is eligible in two categories: Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy TV Show and Favorite Cable TV Drama. It looks like you can vote once every day, so make sure to mark your calendar.

And via GRRM, there’s also a TV Guide Poll to select which show will feature on the cover for the final, December issue of the magazine. Naturally, Game of Thrones is in contention. To vote, just “Like” the Facebook page and then you can put in your vote. There’s also a sweepstakes to win special Comic-Con covers of the magazine.

Everyone’s been talking about Salman Rushdie’s remarks in which he opines that The Wire “is just a police series” and that Game of Thrones is “well-produced trash” (hey, everyone’s got an opinion—but do read the whole interview, it’s an excellent conversation) ... but on a happier note, geek favorite actor Ron Perlman was interviewed at the Scream Awards by Access Hollywood’s Jolie Lash, and she got him to make some remarks on former Beauty and the Beast colleagues George R.R. Martin and new-to-Game of Thrones actor Roy Dotrice.

See the video below!

The SPIKE TV Scream Awards ceremony was filmed last night, to be televised on October 18th, but you don’t have to wait to hear the results. With voting open to the public, fans across the web urged others to make their vote heard… and it sure looks like it paid dividends, as the popular fan-given award gave nods to Game of Thrones not once, not twice, but ... uh, thrice!

With Sean Bean and Lena Headey in attendance for the production, actors Peter Dinklage added another award to his bookshelf for Best Supporting Actor (this curious image is described as Peter “speaking on stage”... which would be creepy!) and Emilia Clark won Breakout Female Performance. And then, the big one: HBO’s fantasy show beat out other genre productions such as The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, and True Blood for Best Television Show. Quite a coup!

If you have SPIKE TV, make sure to tune-in to watch the show!

For those who missed the news as it coursed over the social web, George R.R. Martin revealed that the last of the major roles for the series had been cast in a post discussing both Rose Leslie’s casting as Ygritte and his announcement that actor Simon Armstrong was cast in the role of a legendary ranger of the Night’s Watch, Qhorin Halfhand.

Armstrong has been in a number of productions for film, television, and theater, including playing Claudius in the The Globe’s 2011 production of Hamlet and in the BBC Films The Edge of Love. Looking over his CV, Game of Thrones seems to be his first work in the fantasy genre.

Not one, but two acclaimed TV comedies made references to Game of Thrones last night, showing that the writers out there appear to be fans of HBO’s series. And best of all, we’ve got some clips to prove it thanks to fans on the interweb! See below for the video links to the Parks and Recreation and Big Bang Theory clips.

Hot on the heels of George R.R. Martin confirming that John Stahl is playing Lord Rickard Karstark, a significant northern lord, we have a bunch of confirmations of some of those smaller roles (though as they say, there are no small roles—only small actors). All of these have leaked over the last weeks, but until now HBO has not given official confirmation. So, here we go:

George has updated his post to confirm our speculation: Scottish actor John Stahl is now Lord Rickard Karstark. Lines for Lord Rickard were given guest actor Steven Blount last season, but it appears Karstark has been upgrade to being a “major role” this season. Stahl is a veteran of stage and screen, and should do very admirably in the role.

And speaking of major roles? George reveals that “the major roles” for this season are now all cast, with various “smaller roles” still being cast in London, Belfast, and Dublin. What’s left? Qhorin Halfhand, certainly. Beyond that, I couldn’t say, but I’m starting to worry about the Tullys being excised entirely this season (not just the Blackfish, who seems to be a goner for sure, but also Hoster and Edmure), and ... when are we going to hear about a certain smelly servant?

We recently noted the fact that Valyrian Stee  had learned that their authorized replica of Jon Snow’s sword, Longclaw, was going to appear on the October 13th episode of Big Bang Theory...

And as it happens, one of the newly-released sneak previews of that episodes? Features the sword itself, although in this case it’s being treated as the replica of ... well, “a sword on pay-cable”, but it’s unclear if they will actually name Game of Thrones. In fact, Valyrian Steel’s sword is based on the description as given in “A Song of Ice and Fire”, and has Martin’s direct input, much as their Needle, Ice, and King Robert’s Warhammer have.

See the clip below, as Sheldon and Leonard barely keep from drooling all over the weapon!

It’s been awhile, but as Martin writes, “once more into the breach”! Here’s the clue:

So, a Scottish actor, a list of roles, and I’m guessing some hints as to what that particular role is. Have at it!

UPDATED: Linda and I have done some sleuthing, and we think it’s John Stahl. Been in Loch Ness, in a play based on Frankenstein, “The Kingdom of Bones”, “The Slipper Slope”, and “The Malingerer” are episodes of various TV shows he’s appeared on, he’s Scottish, has played an inspector, and a fisherman (in Loch Ness), and a minister as well. As to the role, bits of the clue make me wonder if they haven’t bumped Lord Karstark up to a full-on role… but otherwise, the only other character that really comes to mind at the moment is Qhorin Halfhand.