Video: The longer Game of Thrones has gone on, the more and more it’s plunged into the nitty-gritty of George R.R. Martin’s fantastical setting and its most obscure concepts – so it’s good that HBO’s home releases are packed with little animated primers to keep you in the know when it comes to Westeros’ long history. And this new one is all about dragons.
Image: Still via YouTube
Inspired by both the original books and the detailed histories told within the pages of A World of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones‘ seventh season home release will include a series of animated histories about the lore behind key locations and concepts from the show. They will cover everything from the history behind House Lannister’s favourite song, “The Rains of Castamere”, to the legacy of the Citadel. Westeros.org has shared one of the featurettes, about the history of the Dragonpit – which served as a crucial location in the climax of Thrones‘ penultimate season – narrated in-character by Conleth Hill and Anton Lesser as Varys and Maester Qyburn, respectively:
It’s cool to see Game of Thrones leaning in on the vast history of Martin’s fantasy world to act as a primer for fans who might not have ingested page after page of material about everything from giant frost spiders to the petty squabbles of minor houses, but I kind of wish they did more than just relegate it to (very niftily animated) special features on a box set. There is an immense amount of fascinating and wild lore behind Game of Thrones that could be utilised for something really special. After all, that’s why there’s that handful of Game of Thrones spinoffs already being worked on, right?
But for now, these delightful animated primers – as well as the lavish, 45-minute-long Conquest & Rebellion animated featurette about House Targaryen’s rise and fall also included in the box set – will have to do. It isn’t a bad way to while away the long wait for the final season at least! Game of Thrones season seven’s DVD and Blu-ray is available now.