Westeros

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.

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 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:

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.

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!

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:

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

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.

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.

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:

• Game of Thrones House Stark â`“ Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 43%
• Game of Thrones House Tully â`“ Singleton of Glendullan Select; SRP: £38 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Targaryen â`“ Cardhu Gold Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Lannister â`“ Lagavulin 9 Year Old; SRP: £65 700cl; ABV 46%
• Game of Thrones The Night’s Watch â`“ Oban Bay Reserve; SRP: £65 for 700cl; ABV 43%
• Game of Thrones House Greyjoy â`“ Talisker Select Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 45.8%
• Game of Thrones House Baratheon â`“ Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old; SRP: £38 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Tyrell â`“ Clynelish Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 51.2%

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.

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:

From EW, the pilot production for HBO’s new Game of Thrones successor show—“The Long Night”, as George calls it (but HBO tells him not to)—has collected eight new actors as well as announed its director.

Veteran TV director S.J. Clarkson will direct. Her credits include HBO’s prestige series Vinyl (which, sadly, failed to draw in viewers), Jessica Jones, Life on Mars, and much more—and

was set to helm the as-yet unnamed new Star Trek film. Joining her and the previously-announced Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse are eight additional actors. See their details below!

After having revealed a few months ago that a Fire and Blood limited edition was in the offing, Subterranean Press has now made pre-orders available for this exclusive edition of George R.R. Martin’s history of House Targaryen (part 1).

This limited edition—52 lettered (all sold out) and 750 numbered—includes some bonuses over the standard edition that was published last month. It contains all the same art from the talented Doug Wheatley, but augments it with full-color artwork (such as the piece above) by the legendary Gary Gianni. Well-worth grabbing if you are a collector, or simply a fan of Gianni’s renderings of Westeros. His illustrations for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms show just how amazing his work can be.

With the new year (hope everyone has had a great one!), HBO has put together a video featuring their upcoming slate of programming with clips from highly anticipated programs such as True Detective, Big Little Lies, Veep... and, of course, Game of Thrones. This features the very first bit of dialogue from the show’s final season, so if you want to see or hear absolutely nothing of the show before it airs, skip it:

Though the initial, ambitious exhibition fundraiser did not quite pan out, the organizers behind the amazing Unseen Westeros project have bounced back with a new initiative that’s done very well indeed!

The new Kickstarter has already beaten its goal as it provides funders the opportunity to support the artbook, with any funds raised beyond what’s needed to produce the books to be put towards realizing the exhibition in some form (perhaps in a new location, or for fewer days) with a prospective exhibition date still set for January.

There’s just one week left before the Kickstarter closes out, and it looks like it will be the only way to get a hold of the professionally-printed, 150 page art book featuring all the artworks by professional artists.