The long wait for Game of Thrones‘ home video release is always agony, but at least we get the “Histories and Lore” extras in the mean time. Two of the 15 featurettes — detailing Robert’s Rebellion and the Many-Faced God — included in the season 5 release have arrived online, and you can see them here.
The first, debuted by Westeros.org, chronicles the downfall of the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen, and the rise of Robert Baratheon that sets into motion pretty much the entirety of Game of Thrones, as narrated by Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney). This is one we’d love to get some flashbacks to in the show, or even a fancy prequel miniseries, but for now we’ll take this quick rundown of its importance (if only to hear poor Ser Barristan again).
The second, which you can see above, comes from Watchers on the Wall. In it, Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) explains the mysterious Many-Faced God of the House of Black and White, and how the divinity is an aspect of many different faiths and pantheons found in Westeros, Essos and beyond. It’s not as history-heavy as the Robert’s Rebellion video, but still intriguing.
Although we’d love some of these moments in A Song of Ice and Fire history to make it to the show proper, for now these bonus features will do. It’s a shame that the art style for the new crop of Histories and Lore videos has changed (the first four seasons used a more sketch-like art, as if they were old manuscripts and parchments). Nevertheless, these little fact-laden videos are still an absolute highlight of the home releases.
Game of Thrones‘ fifth season hits DVD and Blu-Ray March 16, giving you plenty of time to rewatch it all before the show returns to TV in April.