Westeros

Last week, we received the first four episodes of season 3 of Game of Thrones to review, courtesy of HBO. While our individual episode reviews and coverage will be held until the corresponding episodes air, it has become something of a tradition to share our general impressions of those early episodes. We did it for the first season, and we did it for the second season, so it seemed only right to do it again. The process of discussing even vague impressions will probably reveal some semi-spoilers, so reading on isn’t going to be a good idea if you prefer to stay unspoiled!

But lets just give a general summing up first, and get into the nitty gritty after: these four episodes are on the whole quite good; not perfect, but they may well be the strongest first four episodes as a whole for the series to date (certainly, they’re stronger as a unit than last season’s first four, though none of them are as good as “What is Dead May Never Die”). Some of our biggest fears going into this season seem, so far, to be unfounded. But there are some issues, such as the fact that a number of the anticipated new characters are rather underwhelming when they finally hit the screen and that there are one or two (largely invented) storylines that don’t really feel like they’re gelling for us.  Still, each subsequent episode goes from strength to strength, each one better than the last. So why do we feel cautiously optimistic? We recall that last season, too, the third and fourth episodes impressed us the most and left us pretty excited about what was to come… and then the cracks started to show and real problems developed that led to some major disappointments. Four episodes in a show like this is not enough to really gauge how the rest of the season will be, especially in terms of how well they’ll translate what’s in the novels to the screen.

Want to read the rest? Read it here!

... of HBO’s opening of the traveling exhibit in New York City (more details below), our intrepid reported Ameli captured some pictures of the cast who were present, as well as some of the exhibits (plus a great photo of herself on the Iron Throne—much better than the one I have, from when I visited the set!). And more than that, she had a chance to ask some of the cast members a few quick questions as they shuffled along the carpet. See their answers below!

Now up is the third in our series of actor interviews leading up to the premiere of Game of Thrones on March 31st (April 1st in the UK, Scandinavia, and elsewhere). This time around, it’s an interview with the always-personable Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer. Read below as he discusses Jaime’s relationships with Cerseia and Brienne, the ways that Jaime defines himself, and more!

And as it happens, this is also our third interview with Nikolaj to date, and he remains as charming and entertaining as always. The interview transcript below doesn’t really go very far to indicate just how engaging he can be to talk with, and how funny. Despite the provison from HBO that details for season 3 were not really permitted to be discussed, Nikolaj provided some small suggestions about how the story may go in the course of discussing the series, his character, and the fans.

Interview

So, what can you tell us about the new season?

Want more? Read the rest!

This morning, Linda was on Swedish national radio station P3, on the PP3 program, to discuss Game of Thrones. For Swedes—and Scandinavians and others who can understand Swedish—you can listen in to the program here. Linda’s appearance starts 18 minutes into the program.

One of the real pleasures of the press junket this year was getting to talk to a member of the cast I’ve not met previously… and perhaps no cast member has really excited me as much as Gwendoline Christie, the imposing Brienne of Tarth.

The actress seemed practically born for this role, and she made quite an impression in her all-too-brief appearances in the second season. The third season promises to give us a lot more of the Maid of Tarth, as she travels through the dangerous, war-torn riverlands trying to deliver Jaime Lannister to King’s Landing as Catelyn Stark commanded her to do.

Interview

What can you tell us about this season of Game of Thrones?

Want more? Read the rest of the interview!

For those who drop by Georgerrmartin.com—Martin’s official site on the web—will have discovered that it has now gotten something of a facelift. It contains all the great features—the essays, the photos, the miniatures, and more—that make it stand out as uniquely Martin’s personal site, but it’s been given a much more modern design. 

You know, we knew about plans for this for… well, a long while, we won’t mention how long exactly. ;) But glad to see it’s finally come to fruition.

HBO has just released a long video, focusing on the wildlings on the show, including commentary from George R.R. Martin. Some glimpses of some of the new cast members, as well, such as Kristofer Hivju as Tormund:

HBO has created a brand new way for fans of Game of Thrones to immerse themselves in its world, by creating a family arms generator at Join the Realm. Given that the Citadel’s heraldry section was one of the only things the nascent Westeros.org had many, many years ago, we entirely approve of this approach. The family arms and words are a terrific aspect of the novels, and it’s only a shame that the show can’t (presumably for reasons of budget and ease of storytelling) really embrace it as fully. But HBO’s crack marketing team? No limits for them, Seven bless them!

So go ahead and join the realm!

An excellent new interview with George R.R. Martin has been published by the UK newspaper The Telegraph. Conducted and written by Jessica Salter, the article takes us into Martin’s home—some very nice pictures of his collection of ASoIaF-related art, and (for us) a rather thrilling look at one of the stained glass windows he commissioned for his “Library Tower” (thrilling, because the design is very familiar)—as he discusses his life and his work.

It’s definitely worth reading.

The Guardian has published a very good article by popular historian Tom Holland, ahead of the premiere of Game of Thrones. He discusses in some detail the historical antecedents of a number of characters and events in the novels, but goes on to explain why he feels Martin’s approach to creating and populating his world is essentially second only to J.R.R. Tolkien’s (high praise indeed) despite being far less rigorous. A very entertaining read, especially as it starts by considering the series in relation to the Booker Prize-winning historical fiction of Hilary Mantel.

BBC Magazine has a new piece out focused very much on Game of Thrones and the fans it inspires. As with most mainstream media takes on these things, it focuses a fair bit on the more extreme expressions of fandom, but on the whole it covers a wide range of fan expression pretty well. The only thing it really lacks is attention to the Internet fandom and social media part of things, which has been such a big component of the show’s “viral” success, we think.

We know interviews with cast and crew of HBO’s Game of Thrones are going out there fast and furious right now, but we’re going to dive in and add to the plentitude. Each day, from here on toward the premiere on March 31st, we’ll feature an interview with a different actor from Game of Thrones season 3. You’ll see interviews from old favorites like Iain Glen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Kit Harington… and plenty of new faces, as well, whom we’ve never had the pleasure of interviewing before, such as Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Gwendoline Christie, and Rose Leslie.

To kick off the series, you can read the interview with Michelle Fairely that we’ve just posted. Some hints about what’s going on in season 3, some thoughts about some of her fellow actors and the process of working on the show, and more!

Check in tomorrow evening when we’ll post another interview. Haven’t quite decided who we’ll post just yet—so hard to choose.

You’ve asked for it, and now it’s here. The A World of Ice and Fire app—a handy, dandy, official and art-filled guide to the novels that Linda and I helped provide the majority of the content of (with oversight from GRRM)—is now available for Android at Google Play (unfortunately, for the time being, it’s US only).

There’s a deal of new content along with this version of the app, content that will be included in the iOs app when it gets its next iTunes update. These include:

Presently, it is US only—that’s the only caveat.
• Profiles for the Men of the Night’s Watch, Brotherhood Without Banners, and the Free Folk
• 30 new illustrations for key places
• The ability to search for characters by alias
• Further improvements to the anti-spoiler and map functionality

We’re aleady running a contest to win tickets to the Stockholm premiere, thanks to the Swedish branch of HBO Nordic... but we’ve also gotten the opportunity to run a contest for the Danish fans out there, for a chance to win VIP tickets to the premiere of season 3 of Game of Thrones in Copenhagen. We’ve 10 VIP tickets to give out, and these tickets cover yourself plus a companion.

Here’s the details on the event:

Date: March 27th at 6 PM.
Location: Odd Fellow Palæet, Bredgade 28, 1260 Copenhagen.
The will be a night in the spirit of Game of Thrones with a true-to-size replica of the Iron Throne and a screening of the first episode of Game of Thrones season 3. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will be present and will entertain the crowds. There will be drinks and food and many hundred GoT fans present.

As to how to enter? Just comment on this post, and we’ll randomly select winners in the next few days!

Sean Collins of Boiled Leather has a very solid interview with writer and story editor Bryan Cogman, discussing the process of adapting and creating seasons past, present, and future. Some interesting thoughts along the way… and a reveal that he, David, and Dan hung out with GRRM in Santa Fe for a few days and apparently picked up yet more information about where Martin is taking the story as he works towards its conclusion. Definitely a must read.