Westeros

According to Deadline, the Jane Goldman-led pilot set in the era leading up to the Long Night is not getting a series pickup from HBO. While there’s no official statement from HBO to this end, reporting has it that Goldman has been contacting cast and crew to inform them of this.

As we noted at Worldcon, Linda and I did some consulting work on the project. Our interaction with Jane and fellow executive producer James Farrell impressed us with their dedication and interest in the setting and its history.

Some guessed this might be the outcome after word spilled last month that a new pilot was nearing an order from HBO, one somehow based on the Targaryen history in the Targaryen history presented in Fire & Blood (Amazon) and being developed by Ryan Condal. At his “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin spoke very approvingly of the bible and pilot script Condal had put together, but so far there has been no clear confirmation that this is the next pilot to be filmed.

Addendum: Over at EW, James Hibberd shares more news about the pilot being passed on, including a quote from one of the actors prior to the news discussing it, as well as Hibberd’s information on Condal’s proposed pilot which Hibberd indicates will lead into the Dance of the Dragons.

HBO has revealed that the Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection Blu-ray set will have what looks to be one of the most stylish, interesting collector’s boxes out there thanks to clever use of Robert Ball‘s signature artwork. A couple of videos have been released along with the announcement, as well as a detailed press release concerning the exclusive extras that are a part of the set, which is due to be released on December 3rd alongside the season 8 stand-alone collection sets (4K and regular Bluray/DVD) and a full complete collection without the limited edition packaging featured below.

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 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:

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:

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

Given the momentous final season (and the fact that Linda is booked up with a bunch of interviews the morning after the show airs), we’ve decided to do something new: a livestreamed commentary by Linda on our Youtube channel shortly after the episode airs (she thinks she can get going about 15 minutes after the episode airs.

We’ve tested out the tech and think we’ve the kinks worked out. It’ll be pretty bare bones to start with, but if it’s a success we’ll see about sprucing it up. One thing that we’ve brought out of retirement is our Sony camcorder, which we used for many of our early videos as well as our segments on Sky Atlantic’s Thronecast—turns out it outputs an excellent image for streaming compared to our DSLR!

Linda’ll post the stream here when it goes live, but if you want to hear about it as soon as possible, be sure to subscribe and request notifications over at Youtube.

With the final season of Game of Thrones just around the corner, Tourism Ireland is again teasing what has become a yearly tradition as they invite fans the world over to think of Northern Ireland as the “Game of Thrones Territory”. Carved doors scattered among historic pubs, limited edition stamps, an enormous pictorial tapestry—each of them has been a spectacular way to promote tourism for those who are interested in visting the land where the series has been based from the very start. This new campaign seems to be no less interesting, as this teaser video suggests:

The video may seem a bit mysterious to start with, but we think by the end what they’re hinting at is clear as glass.

The pop culture mash-ups of Game of Thrones continue, with HBO now collaborating with hamburger chain Shake Shack to produce two show-themed menu items, the Dragonglass shake and the Dracarys burger. There’s a twist, however: you can only order them by speaking Valyrian!

Fortunately, Shake Shack has helpfully provided a guide to placing an order with pronunciation guidance and all. Question is, will the employees at the till (or the customers behind you) have the patience to let you stumble through it all?

Note that this is only at a sole location in NYC, and for a limited time only as noted by the restaurant:

Back in September, it was revealed that a Game of Thrones Legacy project was in an explortary phase to set up a permanent exhibition at the Linen Mill Studios. That exploratory phase is done, and the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is announced for a Spring 2020 opening. The plans sound ambitious, as the images and the press release below reveal!

When it rains, it pours. Last night, HBO has revealed not one but two promos for the final season of Game of Thrones. The first is titled “Together”, and the second is titled “Survival”. They both feature glimpses of new scenes as well as dialog:

And just after we posted that, a new teaser as well, titled “Aftermath”:

Two weeks left for the premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones, and another behind the scenes video has appeared on HBO’s official Youtube channel of the series. This time, the focus is on the often-spectacular visual effects of the series:

The first episode premieres April 14th.