Westeros

At the XBox E3 briefing, where Microsoft highlights many games coming to their console as well as to PC, the rumored announcement of Elden Ring—a brand new fantasy game from From Software (Dark Souls, Sekiro)—came to pass. The company’s famed president, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is cited as creator of the world ... as is none other than George R.R. Martin, who recently revealed that he was consulting on a game out of Japan.

We haven’t seen an official press release as of yet (other than a vague, leaked one), but THR reports that “the new action role-playing game centers on Viking warriors in a fantastical reimagining of Norse mythology.”

No release date exists for the game, but it will reportedly release on PS4 as well as XBox and Windows PCs.

Linda has roped me into discussing the final season of Game of Thrones, with an eye to discussing what the choices of the showrunners mean (or don’t) regarding George’s plans for A Song of Ice and Fire. We think it’s a lot murkier than some have taken it, but see the epic, near-2 hours video (with handy timestamps in the description to jump to particular characters of interest) to learn more:

Over at Not a Blog, George R.R. Martin has shared thoughts on the close of Game of Thrones, how it might be compared to his plans for the final two novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, and more. Well worth a read as a reminiscence and commentary for those who wonder about these things. It’s been a long road for George, for everyone who worked on or covered the show, and for the tens (hundreds?) of millions around the world who’ve watched it.

I had the great privilege to accompany George and Parris to a visit to the set as the first season filmed (the image above comes from that visit, George and I moving down a dark hallway in the Paint Hall studio, led by Bryan Cogman to one of the several sets in that colossal space).

The episode guide for “The Iron Throne”, the 6th and final episode of Game of Thrones, has been updated with Linda’s review (currently livestreaming). We’ll embed it below:

HBO has yet to release it’s behind-the-scenes extras, but once they are they’ll be added to the guide!

The episode guide for “The Bells”, the 5th and penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, has been updated with the “Inside the Episode” from HBO—more extras sure to come—and Linda’s review (currently livestreaming).

Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin’s history of the Targaryen dynasty that grew out of The World of Ice and Fire, is among the finalists for the 2019 Locus Award. Hosted by the venerable Locus Magazine, the award has a large body of voters between its subscribers (whose votes are given extra weight) and the public who also take part in the vote, and is considered one of the three most significant awards in the genre alongside the Hugo and the Nebula.

The episode guide for the fourth episode—titled “The Last of the Starks”, according to HBO—has been updated with Linda’s post-episode livestream as well as the “Inside the Episode” for the episode. You can see the livestream below:

In his most recent Not a Blog entry, GRRM ran over various items of note—including Fire and Blood in getting back into the NYT bestseller list, the successful release of Starport (and the possibility that follow-ups may indeed be a possibility, which we noted  in our review of the graphic novel), and even a touch of politics at the end—but for the Game of Thrones fans what must have turned out was his update on the status of various Game of Thrones successor shows.

The latest episode, titled “The Long Night”, has aired and our episode guide will collect some Linda’s commentary and HBO’s extras as they come out. However, for those who can’t wait to see the review, as usual for this final season Linda is livestreaming her commentary:

With all the attention on Game of Thrones, it seems this great talk at the Jean Cocteau Cinema between George R.R. Martin and noted literary novelist (and now fantasist, with his Black Leopard, Red Wolf) Marlon James, moderated by Dr. Andrea L. Mays, slipped under the radar. While we’ve added it to the So Spake Martin collection, it’s worth having a post of its own so we’ve embedded it below.

The amazing Unseen Westeros art exhibition, which we reported on and which I attended during its preview opening in Berlin, has in collaboartion with Adobe decided to provide a unique VR look at just a fraction of the gorgeous artworks created by the talented professional concept and matte artists (many of whom have worked on Game of Thrones). You can see the VR experience here on Youtube:

Below is the press release as well as details for the nine images shown:

Pyrrha, who have held a license to produce Game of Thrones jewelry using its unique wax seal technique since 2014, are celebrating the final season of the show with the release of four brand new talismans.

You can see the press release below:

The Glass of Thrones campaign website has launched, and it’s quite an impressive thing featuring 3D renderings of the stained glass monuments inspired by the houses of Game of Thrones. It’s a nice way to experience them virtually, but it sure seems like nothing beats actually seeing them in person.

The first monument, dedicated to House Stark, is placed outside of Belfast’s City Hall.

The second episode of the final season of Game of Thrones has aired, and Linda has put together some information on the Episode Guide including links to post-episode materials such as the pleasntly surprising release of Florence + the Machine’s rendition of “Jenny of Oldstones” (we’re big fans). Below, however, we’ll link Linda’s post-episode livestream in which she shared her thoughts and answered questions from viewers:

You’ll find the the preview for next week’s episode below:

Linda’s just finished the first ever Westeros.org livestream review, and we’ve updated the episode guide for the episode—titled “Winterfell”, per HBO—with that video as well as the extras HBO has released. Linda will add more to the page at a more sane hour, but until then, you can see the review video below:’

After that, you can check out HBO’s preview