‘Game Of Thrones’ Sneak Peeks And A New DVD
Vanity Fair reports that HBO is bringing back Pedro Pascal to narrate a special animated feature on the Season 5 DVD. The feature is titled “Dance of Dragons” and tells the story of an ancient clash between the Targaryens, a clash that determined who would inherit the throne after the death of Viserys I. George R. R. Martin wrote about the war in his novella The Princess and the Queen. His upcoming Fire and Blood will be a complete history of House Targaryen. The feature also includes segments on Dorne and the Sand Snakes’ intimate knowledge of poisons and weapons, a tour of the new locations in Season 5, a Season 4 recap, and more.
IGN states that the 20-minute feature was written by Game of Thrones writer Dave Hill and conceived and produced by Lindeman & Associates’ Adam Vadnais. The feature also includes other past Game of Thrones favorites like Kerry Ingram, who played Shireen Barathon; Harry Lloyd, who played Viserys Targaryen; Mark Addy, who played Robert Baratheon; Michelle Fairley, who played Catelyn Stark; and Jack Gleeson, who played Joffrey Baratheon. The DVD will be available on March 15, 2016. Season 5 of Game of Thrones is already available through HBO on Demand, HBO Go, and Digital HD.
HBO recently released a teaser trailer for the new Season 6 as well as a poster featuring Jon Snow, confirming that the series will return in April and that Snow will appear in the new episodes.
Regarding the trailer, CinemaBlend notes that although most of the footage is from earlier episodes, there are some new scenes and some other hints at what’s to come with the hugely popular Game of Thrones. There is the refined voice of Max Von Sydow who is stepping in as the Three-Eyed Raven, hinting that the “North of the Wall” plotline will be revisited in the new season.
Game of Thrones received criticism last year for its episode titled “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” about a wedding night rape. This wasn’t the first time the show has been criticized for its depiction of sexual assault. Regarding the episode about the wedding night rape, director Jeremy Podwesa told Vanity Fair the following.
“It was a difficult and brutal scene and we knew it was going to be challenging for the audience. But it was very important to us in the execution that it would not be exploited in any way. To be fair, the criticism was the notion of it, not the execution. It was handled as sensitively as it could possibly be; you hardly see anything.”
There are many who disagree with this assessment and Podwesa says that Game of Thrones creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff listened and some changes were made as a result.
“It is important that (the producers) not self-censor. The show depicts a brutal world where horrible things happen. They did not want to be too overly influenced by that (criticism) but they did absorb and take it in and it did influence them in a way.”
He did not specify how that influence will manifest itself in the new season of Game of Thrones, but it is one of several things viewers will be keenly interested in observing as new plots develop before their eyes beginning in April 2016.
[Photo courtesy of Mark Davis/Getty Images]
