Video: Season 6 Blu-ray explores the Tourney at Harrenhal and the Battle of the Bastards
By Corey Smith
From Jon’s parentage to the origin of the White Walkers, Game of Thrones Season 6 taught viewers a lot about Westeros and its history. So it is as with the extras from the Season 6 DVD and Blu-ray box sets. That’s particularly true of the animated videos in the History and Lore series. In this one, which premiered at Watchers on the Wall, we get a glimpse at the Great Tourney at Harrenhal, as told to us by Meera Reed.
This is basically an adaptation of the chapter from A Storm of Swords where Meera tells Bran about the Night of the Laughing Tree. As a guest of the Starks that evening at the feast, Meera’s father Howland witnesses such events as Rhaegar Targaryen singing a song so beautiful it moves Lyanna to tears, the Mad King Aerys inducting Jaime Lannister into the Kingsguard, and Ned Stark dancing with the Lady Ashara Dayne. (Ashara is the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne, the man Howland and Ned would later fight at the Tower of Joy.) These are important events that will have grave consequences later on.
Meera even touches on the Grand Northern Conspiracy when she mentions the possibility of Rhaegar arranging the tournament to meet with the great lords of Westeros and talk about the Mad King’s mental decline. It’s a rich bit of history we’re was explored.
Next, Vulture has a clip from The Battle of the Bastards: An In-Depth Look, one of the handful of documentary-like features on the box set. In the clip, Kit Harington, director Miguel Sapochnik, and others discuss that long steadicam shot of Jon Snow plodding through the thick of battle. The scene may have been chaotic, but here we see that everything behind the scenes was tightly controlled.
The takeaway from all this? As Harington says, “Sword-fighting is really hard like that.” Indeed.
Finally, another History and Lore feature has turned up online. Here’s Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully telling us about the history Riverrun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrPwiA-Pcz0
The Season 6 Blu-ray and DVD box sets are available in stores and online now.
h/t Best Buy