Winter may be about to leave Seattle, but if the House Stark words are to be believed, it is most definitely coming to Westeros — and, thanks to HBO, to your televisions on March 31st.
When HBO’s adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series concluded its second chapter last summer, one cliffhanger wasn’t enough: the CGI team had found (Khaleesi) Daenerys “Mother of Dragon” Targaryen’s beloved fire-breathing baby reptiles at the end of a fever dream, the Iceland crew filmed a backdoor pilot for The Walking Dead: North of the Wall, toxic waste specialists had been called into Kings Landing to clean up the Deepwater Horizon-level wildfire spill on Blackwater Bay and an equine excrement situation in the throne room, and the Stark kids were all over the map: following their hormones into treaty-breaking midnight marriages, staging mass covert assassinations to escape domestic servitude, riding away from the smoking ashes of a childhood home in a giant’s backpack, and/or crushing walnuts; Drunk Cersei was nursing an epic hangover; and Peter Dinklage was just settling into a new long-term relationship with the makeup artist who will be applying his garish facial scar for the foreseeable future.
I found the yearlong wait for resolution of these plots to be too dark and full of terrors not to spend the rest of the summer devouring the 5,000 pages of the entire series [pro tip: when you get past the third novel, consider alternating between the fourth and fifth]. That only satisfied my cravings for a couple months, leaving me even more eager to see how television wizards David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will bring the truly jaw-dropping events of A Storm of Swords to the screen. Heck, I’m even on the edge of my seat to see what parts of the map get added to the awesomely informative award-winning title sequence.
Most of the world will have to wait until March 31st to stop obsessively rewatching the trickle of third season teaser trailers, but a few lucky SunBreak readers can get a big-screen sneak preview on Thursday March 21st at the Cinerama along with Seattle notables, cast members, and show producers at a red carpet premiere. As if the chance to see the Season 3 premiere ten days ahead of everyone else isn’t enticing enough, there will also be an afterparty at the EMP featuring THE ACTUAL IRON THRONE. One can only hope that they’ll be serving some fine Dornish Reds to fuel a few wine-soaked monologues and the courage to sit on this cursed seat.
The HBO Seattle premiere of Game of Thrones Season 3 is this Thursday, March 21, at the Cinerama. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the episode airing at 7 p.m. and the party at the EMP afterwards. Enter for your chance to win below!
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