Monday night hundreds of Game of Thrones fans lined up in the cold in New York City for a chance to be one of the very first to own the Game of Thrones Season Two box set. WinterIsComing.net sent reader and commenter Jacarb to cover the event for us. Check out his full report below!
Pease Porridge and Sidewalk Strings
By Jefferson Carberry
Greg Oppenheim and Greg Carroll showed up at the Union Square Best Buy seven hours early. The draw, the Game of Thrones season two Blu-ray midnight release party, wasn’t scheduled to start until eight. By five-thirty, the Gregs were joined by another twenty or so people.
This was not like a midnight movie premiere. The fans in line were not wildly impatient to see something new; some had already watched through the season multiple times. And it’s not as if buying days’ worth of content at midnight on a Monday would be notably faster than, say, picking it up Tuesday after work.
So, why?
“It’s about coming out for something,” said Oppenheim, “About being a part of the premiere.” The event, running under the banner Take the Black, focused on bringing fans closer to the show.
HBO hired New York-based marketing agency Campfire to come up with a Game of Thrones event for the third year in a row. The food trucks sold out almost every day the first year. The second year, people were lined up at two in the morning to get free house sigil tattoos. Campfire, if nothing else, knew they were dealing with a fan base that would eat up anything and proudly wear the proof for life. And so the idea for this year formed around the oath of supreme dedication taken by the Night’s Watch.
The actual, set-used Longclaw greeted visitors, encased, at the top of Best Buy’s escalator. Jon Snow’s costume stood next to it, surprising many with how short Kit Harrington is. One Best Buy customer—the store remained open during the event—off-handedly asked if it was some sort of display from The Hobbit.
Fans freezing in line could briefly come in to be filmed, replete with black cloak and green screen, reciting the first few lines of the Night’s Watch oath. Behind the scenes, the footage was edited and put on YouTube within minutes.
Those still outside munched on various wall-themed foods, fittingly heavy and savory for the cold. The pease porridge, pies stuffed with honeyed chicken, oatcakes, and mulled cider were presented by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer, the cooks behind food blog Inn at the Crossroads. Their blog-branded aprons featured the sigils of houses Beesbury and Tyrell, respectively.
In 2011, Chelsea and Sariann were roommates who wanted to make some lemoncakes. The internet didn’t satisfy them and they set out to research and create the recipe themselves. When they found a hobby in recreating fantasy food, they founded their blog around the same time that season one premiered. They garnered almost immediate attention. Writing to George R.R. Martin—to thank him for creating the story that created the opportunity—resulted in the man himself calling a surprised Chelsea. He loved the idea, though he did have one request; “Just don’t make the seagull.”
Four months after starting the blog, Chelsea and Sariann began working on the official Game of Thrones cookbook. Today, it has sold upwards of 20,000 copies. At the Take the Black event, fans were asking the duo to sign their cookbooks.
“There’s so much to [the story],” said Greg Oppenheim, “It lets people expand what they like into it.” Chelsea and Sariann were just fans who liked to cook. And now they are officially part of it all.
Jason Yang, famous to the tune of 4.4 million YouTube hits on his violin cover of the Game of Thrones theme song, is another fan to find something new through the show. A professional musician, Yang has worked on Glee as well as toured with Madonna. However, he is still best known for his YouTube work. Which is not to detract from it; Campfire chose Yang to perform for fans at the Take the Black event because of his skills with social media as much as his talent with a bow.
A small ensemble was gathered to perform with Yang: some strings, some drums, and a baritone who could have been convincingly cast as a builder on the wall, or perhaps a giant. The cold made tuning instruments and bending fingers creaky endeavors, but the band played on. Twice. They covered Ramin Djawadi’s official soundtracks, and with each set of opening notes the crowd whispered to try and be the first to identify the track. Afterwards, Yang, too, found himself autographing books, slips of paper, and even a phone case. All the while, he still thinks of himself as a fan, saying, “I’ve been waiting as long as everyone else for season three.”
The line to wait for season two filled quickly. Wristbands were passed out to mark the first three-hundred fans, and were gone by 8:30. While eating and listening to music, the line also watched Shintaro Okamoto and his staff carve a direwolf out of a block of ice. The artists peeled layers of ice away from the wolf with chisels sharp enough for a Bolton. Even the pose of the direwolf was meticulously matched with the show; when Okamoto proposed a fierce, menacing beast, he was given the direction to give the wolf a more “speculative” look. Something sternly looking forward, perhaps to something coming.
At eleven, the crowd was let into the store. Gift bags with sigil scarves and cookies were passed out to those with wristbands, along with scrolls containing a note from Jeor Mormont. Four of the notes announced the bearer had won a prize: a set of direwolf bookends, a replica of the Iron Throne, a dragon egg pendant, or the grand prize, a custom, luxury watch. The Night’s Watch. Har. Har.
Brendan Murphy, whom you may know as that guy with the incredible Jon Snow cosplay, was there and fully outfitted. Being made of heavy leathers and furs, the garb was legitimate winter wear. Murphy had even casually donned it to shovel snow the week before, to give the cloak that authentic frozen-dung-digging look and because it was simply well-suited to the job. While the only one fully costumed and standing on Fourth Avenue, Murphy was the most prepared and warm.
As the evening approached midnight, a Best Buy manager informed event staff that they had to take care of “that knife” before the store closed, referring to Longclaw. As it was taken out of the case, Murphy was the only fan allowed to touch—and draw, no less—the sword. Everyone with a camera glommed on immediately, the PR folks from Campfire and HBO audibly grinning in the background.
This was it. A hardcore fan dressed as a Black Brother, interacting with a prop in front of a display of Game of Thrones Blu-rays. This was the photo PR wanted tweeted, along with the YouTube oaths, to stoke sales and bloat the fandom. Let us not forget that, from a cynical point of view, the event was all about selling things. But that view only goes so far. Building and promoting a fanbase by asking fans to do what they love is hardly a raw deal. Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, Sariann Lehrer, and Jason Yang found success in interacting with, and eventually becoming part of, a world that has expanded beyond its own story.
The Longclaw on display is not Valyrian steel. It started out as just a prop. It became the “real” one when it was carried by the actor. It’s the real one because it was actually there, because it touched the “real” Jon Snow. In a moment of opportune proximity, this writer poked it lightly on the nose of the pommel, just enough that he can say he touched Longclaw. Because being able to say it counts for something.
Seven hours and five minutes after arriving, Greg Oppenheim paid for a Lannister-clad Blu-ray box and can now say he was the first person in the world to buy Game of Thrones season two at a retail store.
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52 Comments
So awesome, I wish I could have gone!
Hope whoever went had a great time and got loads of free stuff! :)
GrijnwaaldQuote Reply
Looks like fun.
ArkashQuote Reply
Great report, thanks Jacarb!
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Don’t know if this was posted on another thread, but 4 deleted scenes from season 2 can be seen here:
http://collider.com/game-of-thrones-season-2-deleted-scenes/
TheWoodOfTheMorningQuote Reply
Great job!
the goatQuote Reply
Despite the cold, we had a lot of fun!!
DaniQuote Reply
Sounds cool! I got the very last Lannister case at my local Best Buy. Looked like they were selling pretty well, they only had about 10 copies left.
dizzyQuote Reply
TheWoodOfTheMorning,
They’re all up at the WiC tumblr, as well.
the goatQuote Reply
http://winteriscoming.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/01.jpg
That guy in the middle looks like a young Joss Whedon, kinda.
zodQuote Reply
Now I see why the scenes were cut. The hound and Sansa scene was hard to watch. It made Sandor look like a creeper. Especially after Tyrion called him out. Sandor was coming up too strong on Sansa. That’s closer to his depiction in the book but glad they omitted it. Really enjoyed the Loras and Marg scene though
Tom O’ SevensQuote Reply
Tom O’ Sevens,
I understand why they cut the Irri/Doreah scene, but I wish the rest would have made into the show, especially the Loras/Margaery scene. It’s the only moment we get to see the Tyrells talking without anyone around. I also like the Sandor/Sansa scene. Yeah, it’s rather creepy. But then again, it’s supposed to.
Hi-FiQuote Reply
zod,
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING
DaniQuote Reply
Thanks for your detailed report. Really wish I wad there. Maybe next year, or or the Exhibition Tour.
GorreanQuote Reply
I went to my Walmart at midnight and got my DVD copy. Wasn’t a full blown event at Walmart, but for me it was, and the guy kindly went into the back to get me my copy. So I was also a first to get mine at midnight ^__^.
MedievalFantasyQuote Reply
Nicely written story! Thank you for sharing. I have to say that the event appears to have been pretty cool. I wish I could have attended bc it would have been nice to geek out with some GoT fans, since I really don’t personally know any that are as dedicated to it as I am.
BraincandyQuote Reply
Looks like it was so much fun. I bet its gonna be bigger and better each year with actual cast members passing through…
gisizzlahQuote Reply
Good job, Jacarb! Damn, I’m actually jealous! ;-)
Scott GlennonQuote Reply
that bit about Murphy and Longclaw was really heartwarming, so awesome for him. really great cosplay, he looks bad ass and even resembles Kit Harrington.
feyrbandQuote Reply
I had to laugh at that line about how short Kit is. My friend and I were laughing about that all night. He’s listed on IMDB at 5’10″… take off about 4 inches and that’s more like it.
It was very fun, albeit freezing. We thought we were quite prepared with extra scarves, hand warmers & several layers of clothing. But any piece of exposed skin was completely numb after a while. Though still a lot of fun talking with and discussing the show/books with other fans.
The food was amazing. I could drink gallons of that cider and eat a 2-pound version of that honeyed chicken pot pie.
All of the wristbands may have been given away, but there weren’t anywhere near 300 fans left when they let us in the store at 11pm. The line at 8:30 was about 3 times as long only because passers by were realizing that they could get free food.
We all thoroughly enjoyed Jason & his friends playing. But we all squeed with delight when that baritone started singing the Rains of Castamere. You could hear many singing along.
Great story, Jacarb. If you remember, Monday night inside the store you asked my friend where she got her Martells tote bag. We couldn’t remember the site at the time, but have since remembered that it was at Society6.com
cozmeesahQuote Reply
Really wish I could have been there. Thanks for the write-up :)
ZackQuote Reply
Greg..grrrrr….. I’m sooo jealous !
Oh to be a fly on the wall at this event… buzzing past the hoards of people
and sumptuous food. Every continent and island should such a fete ! *>*
WildSeedQuote Reply
This sounds so amazing I wish I would’ve been there!
ATGQuote Reply
Thank you for the excellent writing about the event! A woman feels almost as if she had been there now, and the photographs/videos so many posted on Twitter also helped those of us who could not attend to feel the spirit of the event. So cool to see a “Jon Snow” made an appearance! Huzzah and congratulations to those lucky winners and attendees!
Mrs. H’gharQuote Reply
Meanwhile, in the UK we still have another 12 days for it because…erm…the weather or something.
I’ve met Kit Harington and he is ever so slightly shorter than I am (I’m 5’11″). He is definitely not 5’6″ in height.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
This sounds like it was a great event. Can’t wait for the release over here in S. A. (although over here we are dying of the heat, so I won’t be able to wear my fur :( ) And the little reference to Kit’s height is cute. There’s a photo of him with Sophie Turner and Gwen Christie at the Elle Style awards (Christie looked like she won something) and he was shorter than them both. But then again, both the women were wearing high heels and Gwen is incredibly tall.
mags giantsbabeQuote Reply
Sophie Turner is extremely tall as well. Obviously not compared to Gwen Christie, but she was the same height as me when I met her during the pilot shoot, and that was three and a half years ago when she was 14. From the show and the photos, she seems to have put on a few inches since then.
ETA: Er, vertically, that is.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Outstanding report, Jacarb! I was super sad I could not stay the whole time, but glad to see all of the shenanigans I missed were well documented.
TheAnchoressQuote Reply
Thanks so much for the write-up, Jacarb and WIC! Sounds like it was great fun!
My friendly neighbourhood Amazon delivery person should be along today with mine–I can’t wait to watch the commentaries!
Here it is, along with some others:
https://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/c0a7464c883431ec4b31324cb4739ffd/tumblr_mi2wwuRXQt1qcqa3io1_250.png
https://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/806cb870badff342d3f07974d25c7ed8/tumblr_mi33g94fy51r9fp64o1_500.jpg
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/33600000/Sophie-Turner-Gwendoline-Christie-and-Kit-Harington-game-of-thrones-33615498-245-176.gif
If being slightly shorter means having these gorgeous gals standing over him, I’m sure Kit isn’t complaining :-)
IsabelleQuote Reply
My friends and I dressed up as members of the nights watch and went down to our local Walmart at midnight, we got a lot of weird looks- upon arriving in the DVD section we were told they would not be selling the DVD until the morning and asked us to leave.
The hounds pupQuote Reply
AMAZON SAYS IT ARRIVED!!!!!!
Must.get.back.to.work.now.
(Perhaps take a break from WIC as well. Alas. Duty calls.)
IsabelleQuote Reply
The hounds pup,
Aww, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry! But at least you had some fun with friends?
IsabelleQuote Reply
Jacarb, I hope you read this. Having been a part of organized fandom for over four decades now, it warmed my heart to read your account. You understand what it’s all about, and you can communicate it to others. Bless your heart.
Maester TcostQuote Reply
Isabelle,
I’d put Kit’s height at around 5’9, maybe 5’10. Gwen is 6’3 without heels, in heels she looks about 8 inches taller than Kit.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
Adam Whitehead,
Hmm, granted we couldn’t stand directly beside the costume. Definitely seemed like I could fit in it though and I’m 5’6″. But if you were right next to him you obviously know better, lol.
cozmeesahQuote Reply
Great job Jacarb!
Looks absolutely fun.
AryannetsQuote Reply
Harry Lloyd was there when Jason Yang was playing! He was keeping a low profile but I definitely saw him.
VisenyaQuote Reply
I was there as well, from about 8:00 onwards and I think I got the second or third of the Lannister edition Blu-Ray sets. As I think I mentioned in a thread from the other night, I was very pleasantly surprised at how many people in line to buy the discs were avid book readers. I met a number of folks with whom I was able to discuss some subtle and intricate plot devices that will likely never appear in the show or will be glossed over if presented at all (think of a type of pie definitely not served by the Inn at the Crossroads, for one). The other funny part is how many agreed that the second season was a real let-down, yet here we were, lining up for 5 or 6 hours to be amongst the first in the world to own it on disk.
Ser Osis of LiverQuote Reply
Nice report! Was Brendan at ComicCon? I think I saw him there with a girl dressed as Dany (and if not, it was another really good Jon Snow cosplayer!)
Hah, people have to fight to be able to touch Longclaw for a second. I remember when the HBO Store set up the very first display of props, I groped Jon’s cloak and Jaime’s armor. Ridiculous little detail but it shows how massive Game of Thrones has gotten!
LinaQuote Reply
Longclaw is almost as long as Kit is tall.
BraincandyQuote Reply
That direwolf looks amazing! I would love to have been there simply to see it being carved.
EleanorQuote Reply
Isabelle and Adam Whitehead
Yup, those are the pictures :) I’m sure he doesn’t mind. He doesn’t strike me as the type of guy for whom stuff like that would be an issue. Short men make good actors, they say (look at Alfie Allen). Must be the short man syndrome, har! His height is not an issue to me though.
This will probably start a debate again, but’s actually a let down to know that people who cue for the dvd release were actually let-down by S2, faults non-withstanding.
mags giantsbabeQuote Reply
This is one of the best written posts I’ve seen on this site in the years I’ve been reading it. Well done, sir.
seanQuote Reply
The general consensus I got from the dozen or so folks I chatted with in the lineup was that their dissatisfaction was due to the unnecessary deviations in Dany’s storyline (deviate they had to, since she really didn’t do much in ACoK) and the Talisa/Jeyne change. The latter didn’t bother me in the slightest and was only needed to set up stuff this year. But the Qarth stuff really irritated me, lack of Reeds (remedied, thankfully) but worst of all, IMHO, was the whole Bran/Rickon death and reveal. I threw my book across the room when I read it. On TV it couldn’t have been telegraphed better if Samuel F.B. Morse had sent it with his own fist.
But again, my point was that even with the faults we talked about, we were still lining up to buy it before anybody else, anywhere, and we’re watching every minute of footage. So “disappointed” in S2 is a very relative term!
Ser Osis of LiverQuote Reply
People are entitled to their opinions and I respect it, debate is also fun to be a part of. But about a month to go before S3 I am over whatever grievances I had with S2 and a little saturated with “what went wrong”. I want to try and perceive changes or streamlining in S3 (which I am sure there will be) with an open mind and realism about the tv industry (budgets, screen time for different actors etc). No-one will have to agree with the changes, but I want to view it as such purely to enhance my own enjoyment of the show as someone who has now read all the books.
mags giantsbabeQuote Reply
Ser Osis of Liver,
Deviations from the book are not the problem. Dany’s story needed deviation. The problem was the execution and writing in that storyline. The same goes for Robb/Jeyne(Talisa). I understand not wanting to cast an entire new family(Westerling) and create another subplot. But the modern characterization of the relationship didn’t work. I didn’t have a problem with the deviations in both of those storylines. However, the one deviation issue I had was with Jon. I do not believe they needed to alter his storyline that much. They prioritized Ygritte over Qorin, which I thought was unnecessary. They could have easily filmed Jon and Qorin on the run from the wildlings while still establishing Ygritte in the scene where Jon releases her and when the wildlings catch up with Jon and Halfhand.
It is my belief, perhaps my hope, that the season felt disjointed because so much time was spent on ‘Blackwater’. I certainly still have faith in D&D. I understand the difficulties with adapting this series and I believe for the most part they have done an outstanding job.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
As a book reader, the modern characterization of their relationship didn’t work well for me either, but it may have been quite necessary or at least more sellable to a modern TV audience.
I’d forgotten about Qhorin, though. It was not at all clear what “do whatever it takes to gain their trust” really meant in the screen adaptation. I don’t mind their focusing on Jon and Ygritte’s relationship, though since her death will be far more profound and gut-wrenching on the small screen when we see it.
Ser Osis of LiverQuote Reply
Humm, this was not a comment on Kit’s height. The sword is called LONGclaw for a reason. Kit doesn’t seem short.
BraincandyQuote Reply
Maester Tcost,
Aw, shucks! That’s the kind of thing that makes a writer feel gooey inside. Thanks, guys. I had a lot of fun, and am for sure the lucky one who had an excuse to sit in a warm trailer talking to cool people. Least I could do was to share. (And I hope you all look out for my writing in the future!)
Yeah, I’d say only about a hundred made it into the store. And then I counted only 37 in line to actually buy discs after the giveaways (and of that, many were couples or groups that only bought one box between them). Thought about including these numbers, but decided they kinda portray the event as less successful than it was. It was about showing up for a piece of the action, not necessarily the whole action pie. Maybe only 10% of the crowd was crazy (in a good way), but 100% of the people who went out of their ways to check it out had other places to be.
As for this in-line discussion on the adaptations (that I missed running around…dammit!), and people who were let-down-but-waiting-raptly-anyways, I think it’s entirely possible to love a thing and still be let down. My father once told me that’s the only time a man can be let down…or something like that.
JacarbQuote Reply
To be honest, I’m really surprised they even got as many fen as they did. Cold weather, a weeknight with the main event at midnight and virtually zero promotion other than Twitter, FB and the viral word of mouth on sites like here and Westeros. Everyone involved did a really good job, we all had fun and I’m grateful they did it at all, but I hope next year HBO decides to promote the hell out of the S3 release in the mainstream media. And it wouldn’t hurt to hold it at an hour/day that will allow many and more to attend. I don’t think any of us really cared that we were within the first 37 or however many to get the disk; I think we were more there for the fun stuff leading up to it. In the end, it’s just a DVD set, after all.
Ser Osis of LiverQuote Reply
Excellent write-up, it’s made me even more envious than before that I couldn’t go! I would love an event like this to be on near to me.
StarkgaryenQuote Reply
I’m upset I missed this! Sounds like it was a lot of fun!
SharonQuote Reply
Lina,
(Didn’t see this until now, so not sure if you will ever see this… But yes, that is the same Brendan who was at Comic-Con :) (and I was the Dany)
DaniQuote Reply
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