Westeros

Following up the Vanity Fair piece with its remark that the producers are thinking of seven or eight seasons, James Hibberd at EW has a somewhat more definitive quote from the David Benioff:

Of course, it’s not 100%, as HBO executive Michael Lombardo implies a possibility of 8 seasons, which matches Vanity Fair’s earlier quote. But at the moment, 7 seasons appears to be the end goal of the producers.

Vanity Fair has unveiled the cover for the April issue… and Game of Thrones features heavily indeed. It’s not just any Game of Thrones photo shoot—world famous photographer Annie Leibovitz turns her practiced eye, photographing the actors and creators of the show, while there’s plenty of interview material… including this fairly definitive quote from Benioff and Weiss:

Below, see a video showing the cover shoot, featuring Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Peter Dinklage. The April Issue will be available to digital subscribers from March 13th.

A few new things to look at in this trailer. titled “Secrets”:

Music by Losers, from their song “Turn Around”.

HBO seem to determined to make sure that the entire world knows that season 4 of Game of Thrones is coming, because another trailer is due this Sunday evening, doubtless airing just before the finale of True Detective (very much looking forward to that, myself). HBO has teased it using Vine, which can be seen below.

Fully embracing the season’s “All Men Must Die” tagline, HBO has announced a new website: Beautiful Death, dedicated to providing an illustrated death-by-death countdown towards the premiere of season 4. There’s two already up, and more are promised.

The illustrations come from Robert M. Ball, who is no stranger to Game of Thrones art, as his portfolio features some character illustrations he was commissioned to do for Wired.
The second image, depicting the Hound’s killing of Mycah, is quite striking.

In one of the more unique marketing efforts out there, HBO has convinced a number of hip hop and rap artists to put together a mixtape specifically inspired by Game of Thrones. Dubbed Catch the Throne, artists such as Big Boi of Outkast, Common, and Wale have provided ten tracks covering the gamut of themes from the series: ambition, revenge, sexism, and more. And I have to agree with Victoria McNally’s review  at Geekosystem—Dominik Omega’s “Arya’s Prayer” is the stand out, thanks to his deeper understanding of the novels allowing him a wider range of material to reference. Good stuff.

Of course, the mixtape is free, and is already available on Soundcloud. You can listen to it below:

Straight from HBO is the press release officially revealing the titles of the first four episodes of season 4, as well as providing synopsis information which provides some interesting insights as to what’s to come. Episodes 2 and 3 sound particularly interesting…

        Encouraged by the Red Wedding slaughter in the Riverlands that wiped out many of their Stark nemeses, the Lannisters’ hold on the Iron Throne remains intactâ`¦but can they survive their own egos, as well as new and ongoing threats from the south, north and east? While an unbowed Stannis Baratheon continues to rebuild his army in Dragonstone, a more immediate danger comes from the south, as Oberyn Martell, the Lannister-loathing “Red Viper of Dorne,” arrives at King’s Landing to attend Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery Tyrell, and perhaps act on an ulterior agenda. In the north, a depleted Night’s Watch seems overmatched against the inexorable Wall advances of Mance Rayder’s army of wildlings, which in turn is being trailed by an even more formidable foe: the undead White Walkers. As if that weren’t enough, Daenerys Targaryen, accompanied by her menacing trio of dragons and army of Unsullied, is poised to liberate Meereen, the largest city in Slaver’s Bay, which could ultimately provide her with enough ships to sail to Westeros and reclaim the Iron Throne.

The Emmy®- and Golden Globe-winning GAME OF THRONES returns for its ten-episode fourth season SUNDAY, APRIL 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, followed by other episodes on subsequent Sundays at the same time. Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, the hit series is an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal.

Returning series regulars on GAME OF THRONES this season include: Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark).

Additional returning series regulars this season include: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Rory McCann (Sandor “The Hound” Clegane), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre).

Returning cast members include: Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Ciaran Hinds (Mance Rayder), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed), Kristian Nairn (Hodor) and Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy).

New cast members for the fourth season include: Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand, Oberyn’s paramour), Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Lord Mace Tyrell), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis, a mercenary ally to Daenerys), Yuri Kolokolnikov (Styr, a wildlings chief) and Hafþór JúlÃ%ADus Björnsson (Ser Gregor Clegane, a.k.a. “The Mountain”).

While Brooklyn gets the new-sold-out screening and Seattle gets the art show—and a number of other places are getting the international exhibition—there’s quite a lot going out there in the world of Game of Thrones curation…

Such as “Maktspel” in our native Sweden! Hosted by the Royal Armory (Livrustkammaren) in Stockholm, beginning March 14th through January 4th the event will feature costumes from Game of Thrones as well as the films Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age set beside historical costumes from the 16th century. The museum, the oldest in Sweden, is part of the historic royal complex in Stockholm’s Old Town (Gamla stan), making it even more worth the visit if you happen to be in the vicinity in the coming months.

The evening before will feature an official opening that’s invitiation only (Linda and I will be there)... but as part of the event, the museum is hoping to have re-enactors and cosplayers on hand dressed as their favorite Game of Thrones characters. If you or anyone you know has a show costume in their closet, make sure to take a look at this file with information about what they’re looking for! An important note, however: if you’re interested, they’d like to be contacted no later than tomorrow, so get to it (and hope to see you there!)

While New York may get a lot of the interesting events around Game of Thrones—the “Epic Fan Experience” at the Barclays Center being a case in point—it’s not the only thing going on out there. Of particular note for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire is Seattle’s LTD Art Gallery current exhibition: “Winter is Coming”, a presentation of artwork influenced by the novels, presented by George R.R. Martin and put together with his direct input. All the works on display in the gallery are available for sale, in some cases as originals, in many cases as prints. There’s an amazing trove of treasures, including original works of art by Ted Nasmith and Donato Giancola, and prints from the likes of Amok (with an awesome depiction of Aegon and his sisters), Marc Simonetti, Jim Burns, Jen Zee, and many more.

An excellent preview of the exhibit, including interviews with the gallery’s owner and participating artists, can be found over at Wired.com. The exhibit runs through March 23rd.

HBO has released word of a truly massive sneak peek of season 4 of Game of Thrones.... at Brooklyn’s renowned, state-of-the-art Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dubbed “The Epic Fan Experience”, up to 7,000 fans will be be able to look at the traveling exhibition of costumes and props before filing into the arena to witness the premiere episode of the new episode. This event will take place on March 20th, more than two weeks before the season premieres on HBO.

It’s not a free event; tickets will be released on March 6th and can be purchased via Ticketmaster, with net proceeds going to the very worthy charities, Nothing But Nets and Books for Africa. So, not just an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but one that helps some good causes. Definitely worth keeping your schedule open for!

See the full press release below:

After its series of “Valar Morghulis” posters, with their stark black-and-white depictions of the show’s key characters, HBO now provides a somewhat more colorful image. I think it’s quite striking…

... even if they do insist on calling it a three-eyed raven.

Via EW, fans can now read a paragraph—yes, a whole paragraph!—from The Winds of Winter. This is actually a clever means of noting a unique approach that Random House has decided to use to promote the World of Ice and Fire app (Buy: iOS, Android): the next big update (which, yes, Linda and I have worked on and teased, due next month, will also include the full chapter that is being previewed here.

As I said in the tease, the update will be of particular interest to fans of The Lands of Ice and Fire (Order: Amazon US, Amazon UK), as it will provide some new information on some of the new lands and places that the map has revealed, as well as additions of a number of characters that previously weren’t covered in the update.

Following on today’s earlier sneak peek from EW, HBO has now released three character teasers focusing on Tyrion (seen in the Tyrion peek), Daenerys, and the Starks. You can see them below:

James Hibberd over at EW once again has the scoop, revealing a series of character posters—focused, interestingly, on the Lannister bunch—done in striking black-and-white and featuring the ominous phrase, “Valar Morghulis”.  Along with the posters is a very brief video, focused on Tyrion and giving a sense of the sort of predicament he will be finding himself in this season.

All in all, very much a mood piece, setting a tone for what season 4 is going to be bringing. Hibberd hints that more posters and videos shall be hitting the web soon enough, doubtless in a similar vein.

Earlier this month, we noted the upcoming fundraising drive for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, sponsored by none other than George R.R. Martin and Parris McBride. As promised, we’d note when it went live… and it now has. A massive amount of A Song of Ice and Fire-related books and memorabilia, as well as Wild Cards books and other works by Martin, is in the offering, with various packages available at different funding levels.

The proceeds will go to support the Westeros Pack—named after characters from the novels—by providing them a larger habitat, which sounds excellent. All funding levels include signed “adoption” certificates, showing your sponorship of a particular wolf (or wolves) in the pack.