Westeros

The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain

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Official Season 8 Poster Released

HBO has released the official poster for the final season of Game of Thrones:

Click for full-sized image

Featuring a design mashing up the Iron Throne with Drogon’s glowing eyes looks almost like the dragon’s wearing a crown, doesn’t it?

John Varvatos x Game of Thrones

The continuing collaboration of Game of Thrones with a wide variety of creators and brands continues with today’s announcement of a Game of Thrones capsule collectiom from men’s fashion designer John Varvatos. Some of the pieces in the 11-piece collection are featured in this video below, released today to promote the collection:

For more information about the collection, read below for the press release with quotes from Varvatos and information about where and when the collection will be available.

Game of Thrones Art Books Forthcoming

Fans have been wondering whether Game of Thrones, its final season just around the corner, will release art and photography books along the lines of those seen for The Lord of the Rings. Well, they need wonder no longer thanks to Insight Editions which is publishing not one, not two, but four separate books delving into all manner of aspects of the show’s production. And all of them can be pre-ordered now on Amazon. Here’s a rundown:

  • Game of Thrones: The Storyboards - Due Summer 2019, this 320 page art book contains storyboards from artist William Simpson, who’s worked on the show from the beginning.
  • The Photography of Game of Thrones - Another 320 page book, this one due November 2019, collecting Helen Sloan’s extensive photography across all the seasons of the show.
  • The Art of Game of Thrones - 320 pages, due October 2019, devoted to production art for the series. This would include things like matte paintings, character and location designs, and more.
  • Game of Thrones: The Costumes - The shortest of the books, listed at 224 pages due November 2019, this will undoubtedly present photographs and design sketches of Michelle Clapton’s award-winning costumes on the show.
Behind the Scenes with Game of Thrones

HBO has released a video from behind the scenes, focused on the award-winning work of the makeup and prosthetic team on Game of Thrones. A lot of close looks at White Walkers, children and the forest, and more:

And on the same day, EW released a pictorial focused on the weapons of the TV shows, with comments from Tommy Dunne, the weapons master on the show who oversaw the armoury that produced the weapons seen in the series.

New HBO Head Talks Thrones Spinoffs

The recent announcement that long-time HBO head Richard Plepler was leaving the company following word that the recent merger of AT&T and Time Warner meant some significant reorganization caused something of a stir. The rumors that Bob Greenblatt, formerly head of NBC, would come over to take over have panned out,  with HBO and Turner now being folded into a new entity, WarnerMedia.

This has led to fans of Game of Thrones and HBO in general wondering what the future holds. Greenblatt has provided some interviews, and one in particular to The Wrap touches directly on the topic of the potential of a Game of Thrones franchise. The headline that goes with this might seem alarming—“New HBO Boss Bob Greenblatt Doesn’t Know if Doing 2 ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoffs Is Feasible â`“ Let Alone One”—but reading the actual quotes suggest that it’s overstating Greenblatt’s remarks.

Season 8 Official Trailer Released

Hot on the heels of EW‘s reveal of their dedicated special issue for the final season of Game of Thrones, HBO has upped it all a notch with the first official trailer. See it below:

EW Game of Thrones Special Issue

EW has begun the onslaught of Game of Thrones promotion with a bang, unleashing a special issue with sixteen different covers—pairing pretty well with the twenty official photos HBO released over the weekend.

The special issue, their largest yet at 78 pages, features a lot of behind-the-scenes details about filming of the final season. As a taste, EW has a lengthy set report filled with anecdotes, veiled hints, quotes, and more. Here’s a teaser:

“What we have asked the production team and crew to do this year truly has never been done in television or in a movie,” says co-executive producer Bryan Cogman. “This final face-off between the Army of the Dead and the army of the living is completely unprecedented and relentless and a mixture of genres even within the battle. There are sequences built within sequences built within sequences. David and Dan [wrote] an amazing puzzle and Miguel came in and took it apart and put it together again. It’s been exhausting but I think it will blow everybody away.”

 

Reigns: Game of Thrones Update

This is a pleasant surprise: publisher Devolver Digital has announced that developer Nerial has updated the diverting Reigns: Game of Thrones with over 100 new cards which include a “disasterous” trip to Casterly Rock.

These cards add more emphasis on the Lannisters and the westerlands, which is quite interesting because it might suggest there might well be more updates planned centered around houses, regions, or perhaps even organizations. The game is available on iTunes App Store, Google Play Store, and on Steam. For more about the game, see our post where Linda and I livestreamed some gameplay and answered some questions from viewers.

Discussing Manuscript Culture in Fire and Blood

Yes, finally, a video about Fire and Blood ... and it’s about a topic that, I suspect, was not an obvious one to talk about for most. But for me, this particular detail is potentially the single biggest piece of world-building in the entirety of the text. And it’s all because of A Caution for Young Girls.

If you already know the gist of what the Caution is, and what manuscript culture is, jump to the 14 minute mark where I attempt to pull all the pieces together to explain why I think this is such a noteworthy expansion of our understanding of the setting. Also, as noted, the second segment had a recording issue and so I had to use a secondary audio source which doesn’t sound as nice as the rest; apologies about that!

Nightflyers Ends

According to a report from Deadline, the SyFy/Netflix production of Nightflyers, an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s award-winning science fiction-horror novella, has come to an end after a single season.

Per Deadline, this seems quite final—it’s unlikely to see any last-minute saves by Netflix or some other streamer or network picking it up:

Nightflyers had been conceived as an ongoing series but I hear that following its freshman season run, Syfy brass concluded that it was better off as a one-off limited series. The options on the cast were let to expire, and one of the stars, David Ajala, was just cast as a lead in the CBS pilot Under the Bridge.

 

One More Look at Unseen Westeros

The Unseen Westeros art exhibit was a great success in Berlin, and the media who visited it during its run are still producing content. While the one we’re embedding below is mostly in German, it gives a great view of the ambiance of the location and artworks, and also happens to feature me providing some commentary starting at the 6:50 mark:

There are still some limited supplies of the art book and art prints, for those interested

GRRM Guest of Honor at Titancon

This year’s European science fiction and fantasy convention is Titancon, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland; it runs from August 22nd to August 25th. Founded as the world’s first Game of Thrones-focused convention, it has for years now provided fans a chance to meet notable authors and actors. As a full-on Eurocon, however, this year’s Titancon will be the largest ever, and will feature scores of authors, artists, and creators. And to mark such an occasion, Titancon has just announced—after a long silence—that they have secured George R.R. Martin as their guest of honor.

Suffice it to say, Titancon’s organizers have for years been interested in bringing George to Belfast. This will be a rare opportunity for fans to take part in a European convention where George is in attendance, and in a location that has won global attention as the home of Game of Thrones. We’ve had the pleasure of having visited several times (including attending a previous Titancon), and think there’ll be a lot of interest for fans of George, of fantasy and science fiction, and of course of Game of Thrones. For one thing, the touring exhibition will be in Belfast, and for another just a week prior Dublin will be hosting the 77th Worldcon (which George will also be attending—as will we!).

There’s quite a lot to see in Northern Ireland for those interested in Game of Thrones tourism, as we’ve covered before. George at Titancon just makes this August all the more tempting a time to visit.

 

 

Game of Thrones Prequel Production Date Set

According to EW, the Game of Thrones prequel/successor headed by Jane Goldman is set to begin production in the early Summer. James Hibberd reports that Casey Bloys, HBO’s programming president, has previously indicated that a new show won’t air until at least a year has passed from the airing of the last season of Game of Thrones, so a late 2020 or 2021 premiere for the show if it’s ordered to series. Whether “The Long Night”—as George R.R. Martin unofficially calls it—will make it that far is anyone’s guess, but the pilot’s cast has shaped up, with Naomi Watts headlining.

Game of Thrones Whisky on Amazon

After the release of the Johnnie Walker White Walker limited edition blended whisky, HBO and DIAGEO have teamed up to now release their limited edition collection of classic single malt whiskys with Game of Thrones-inspired dress. These whiskys are now available for pre-order on Amazon in select EU countries (presently that seems to mean the UK, Italy, and Germany) as well as Malts.com.

We’ll link them all below:

We’re not whisky enthusiasts, but DIAGEO and HBO seem to have put some real thought into this selection, matching up houses (and the Night’s Watch) with whiskys that have some matching quality. For example, the Cardhu Gold Reserve is associated with House Targaryen and Daenerys because of the fact that that distillery was founded by two women, and the Oban was selected to represent the Night’s Watch because the distillery sits beneath a cliff much as Castle Black sits beneath the Wall. Clever.

Final Season Premiere Date Video

After much anticipation and guesswork, HBO has announced the date for the premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones. That date, according to the new, poignant teaser is April 14th: