The first, an MTV video interview with Emilia, is so spoiler-free it’s safe even for your youngest child:

Yeah, not so much info. Kara Warner tried. HBO is putting on the spoiler clamps pretty tight.

The second interview—Mark Addy by the Aussie site TheVine.com—was one conducted very recently, though by reading it you wouldn’t be able to tell Addy’s character died in season one. (Or maybe we’ll see his ghost! Holy Hamlet!)

The full interview is here!

The third interview—just one of many small snippets done for EW.com—was with Alfie Allen, and has a small share of season two SPOILERS. You can read it after the break. If you’re into that.

EW: Inside TV with James Hibberd and Lynette Rice!

Fire And Blood: I really enjoyed the Mark Addy interview, and love the fact that people who were previously involved with the show still regard it so highly. (And chalk one up for another “I read the books” cast member!) Alfie was salivating for this season even before filming began, so you know he’s jacked. Keep it coming, HBO!

Recognizing that Game of Thrones has a fanatical following, the network is asking fans to create their own SideShow content for each episode of the first season of the show.

Fans can vote on what SideShows they like best and the top three entries for each episode will win Game of Thrones swag and other goodies. When Game of Thrones season 2 premieres on Apr. 1, 2012, HBO and Miso will announce the winning SideShow for each episode. Those winners will get additional prizes, social mentions and have the honor of having their SideShow dubbed the “official” pick in the Miso iOS app.

To help get you guys started, HBO asked me and Westeros.org to make two SideShows. I’ve made one for episode one while Elio and Linda created one for episode two. Check them out and then try making your own for later eps.

Winter Is Coming: I had fun making the SideShow. Hope you guys like it. It’s a pretty cool app. A nice thing to use on episode rewatches, as it gives you a little extra info and it’s a fun way to interact with fellow fans.

Also, in this MTV interview, Kit discusses his new costars, Rose Leslie and Simon Armstrong, and refers to episode 9 as a “big episode” for his character. This season, according to Kit, Jon is going into a world that’s “very much more real” and he also shares what it’s like to have celebrity fans. (The video is region-blocked. We will update the post with non-blocked links as they become available. A transcript of the video can be found here.)

UPDATE: SpoilerTV provided a region-free version of the vid.

Fury: That is great news about the trailer’s incredible view counts. Hopefully that will translate into even bigger ratings for HBO. Kit’s interview is brief, but intriguing. Episode 9, not 10, will be the climax of Jon’s storyline. This makes sense when you consider that “Baelor” was the 9th episode of season 1. HBO shows often resolve the major story threads in penultimate episodes, and save the season finales for setting up the next season.

Embedded below are clips from the video interview Liam did at Access Hollywood’s studios, while the write-up from the over-the-phone Q&A (which is where he name-drops us) can be found here. Also Access Hollywood is promising a new interview with a different Thrones cast member each week leading up to the premiere!

(Region-free versions of these videos can be found HERE.)

Winter Is Coming: Liam’s teases of what we can expect from Carice as Mel and Stephen as Stannis have got me so pumped up. I can’t wait to see the three of them interacting on screen. We are in for some stellar acting, no doubt. Oh, and thanks for the shout out, Liam!

If one month is too long of a wait for you, then circle February 13th on your calendar, as that is when the third and final In Production video hits HBO On Demand. This 2 minute video will focus on the filming in Iceland. Both videos should be made available online shortly after they debut on air.

Winter Is Coming: I suspect that Echoes from the Past will be much like last season’s Inside Game of Thrones. Which means we should get our first looks at some full scenes from season two! I’m also really looking forward to the Iceland video. While I highly doubt we’ll see any of the new characters, the scenery alone should be impressive.

Unfortunately, Thrones lost to Boardwalk Empire in the category of best ensemble cast in a drama series. Still it is an honor to be nominated and many Thrones stars came out to the event, including Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Alfie Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jason Momoa and Lena Headey (pictured right). You can see more red carpet photos on our Tumblr. Hopefully we’ll get some interview videos online soon as well.

We should also mention that on Saturday the Directors Guild held their awards show, where Tim Van Patten was nominated in the drama series category for his work on the first episode, “Winter Is Coming”. Unfortunately he lost to Patty Jenkins, who directed the pilot of The Killing.

One more major guild awards show remains, the Writer’s Guild Awards, where the whole of the season one writing team is nominated. Those winners will be announced on Feb 19.

Winter Is Coming: Congrats to the stunt team for their win! Some amazing work by those guys and gals. Sad that the full cast didn’t win though as I thought that top to bottom they were the best in their category. Oh well, there’s always next year!

Not only that, but the article reports that True Blood and Thrones trail only The Sopranos for the most watched show in the network’s history! That’s pretty amazing.

Winter Is Coming: Some quick analysis: it seems part of Thrones‘ leapfrog over Boardwalk is due to the lower viewer totals of Boardwalk‘s second season dragging down the show’s average (which was at 10.7m following season one). However, at our last report Thrones had 8.9 million viewers per ep, so the show has gained an average of 400,000 viewers per episode in between seasons strictly though On Demand and HBO Go. Amazing. Once the DVD drops, I suspect even more new viewers will be added and hopefully subscribe to HBO for season two. With all these new viewers on board the season two numbers should be huge. True Blood better watch it’s back!

YouTube Link

For those who want a better look at each character and shot from this trailer, Ours is the Fury is screen capping the hell out of this thing over on our Tumblr.

Winter Is Coming: In a word, simply amazing. HBO has really upped their trailer game this season. Although it didn’t show as much as I had hoped, it was very, very well done and what it did show was so cinematic and epic. The wait till April 1st just got a lot longer.

Something completely silly and something really rather fun (IMO) after the jump.

More long comic strips like that coming up in the following weeks:

Winter Is Coming: Not unexpected, but still very exciting! What is everyone hoping to see in this trailer?

“There were about 4 different versions that played for the first season. We had all the locations built, so it was just a matter of changing the camera move and then fine tuning the lighting for that specific shot. Season 2 will feature alot of the same locations, but some new ones as well. Many of the shots from the 1st season will be reused.”

Ruhfass also shares a funny tidbit about the opening. At 1:27 in the credits, on the left side of the screen, an image appears of a bear standing behind a pig. That portion has been heavily darkened, because with the bear so close to the pig, it looks almost like they’re having sex.

In the show's favorite position, naturally.

The 3D artist also discusses in detail the technical processes involved in making the title sequence. Another response from Ruhfass that I found exciting, because I had always wondered about the metallic sound in the opening:

“Defualt: At some point in the intro, the camera is enveloped by some blades that flash for a second and make a metallic sound. What’s going on there?”

“Ruhfass: This is supposed to be like a camera lens change. Imagine a contraption on the camera that has 3 different different lenses attached to it, and it flips so the next lens is in front of the camera.”

Fury: I would guess that Pyke of the Iron Islands, Qarth, Harrenhal and the land beyond the Wall will be some of the new additions that we see in the opening credits this year. The Reddit thread is an enjoyable read, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the title effects team came up with for new season 2 locations.

Winter Is Coming: Nonso is an engaging and well-spoken guy. Glad to have him on the show! It sounds like they have beefed up Dany’s storyline quite a bit and expanded the role of XXD in the process. I’m very excited to see how it all plays out!

• First off, at IGN.com people had the chance to vote on their own favourites of 2011. Game of Thrones won as Best new show and Best show overall, while Ned Stark was crowned Best hero, and the ending of Baelor was lauded as Best twist.
• The American Cinema Editors society nominated Thrones as the best edited one-hour cable series, based on the work by Frances Parker on the episode Baelor. The competition in the form of the Boarwalk Empire finale and the pilot of Homeland is strong. The ceremony is going to take place on February 18.
• The Cinema Audio Society nominated GoT for the sound mixing award for TV series (Baelor, Ronan Hill and Mark Taylor). Ceremony on Feb 18 as well.
• The Motion Pictures Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards brought Thrones two nominations. Best short form dialogue editing on TV (for Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things) and Best short form sound effects editing on TV (for Winter is Coming). The ceremony is to take place on February 19.
• Last but not least, the Costume Designers Guild nominated Michele Clapton‘s work on Thrones as Outstanding costume design on a period/fantasy TV series. The competition includes, among others, Boardwalk Empire and The Borgias. The winners will be announced on February 21.
• Unfortunately, Game of Thrones did not win the Producers Guild Award for episodic TV drama, which went to its sister HBO show Boardwalk Empire yesterday.

Congratulations to all the honourees!

For those who like to follow politics, our reader Morgan King (what a fitting surname!) presents you with another option. In his words: “After all, only one man has the right to the highest seat in the land this year.”

The Horatio Caine of Westeros

George R.R. Martin based his world on medieval society. While that might seem like an excuse to let a story setting be sexist, I think Martin’s world reflects our current one. For example, medieval women were paid less than men for doing the same work, while also taking care of their families. Sound familiar? Creating a world with sexist behavior and hierarchy is realistic. Though the world of Ice and Fire favors men, the women playing in the world are clever and inspiring. It’s hard to think of Game of Thrones as being anti-woman when you have moments like Dany striking back hard at Viserys after years of abuse, or Catelyn investigating the attempted murder of her son. The men reign at the beginning of Game of  Thrones, but by the end of the first season, Daenerys, Catelyn and Cersei are widows who plot their own futures.

This construct gives characters like Daenerys, Cersei, Arya and Sansa something to struggle against. They assert their wishes, even when told they’re inappropriate or damnable or forbidden. They make mistakes, fall in love, take revenge, and change their world. This is a place I can relate to. A planet of gender equality sounds heavenly, but that’s not the world I live in. I recognize in myself the way that these women react to their circumstances. I also can recognize myself in Tyrion and Samwell, among others. A great story goes beyond gender definition. That’s one reason why I love A Song of Ice and Fire.

There have been some aspects of Game of Thrones that made people unhappy- notably the depictions of rape and nudity. I have very liberal attitudes when it comes to nudity- I don’t consider a nude woman to be weak, cheapened or automatically a victim. I don’t have a problem with any nudity, as long as it’s equally doled out. There’s been far more female nudity than male, so the show could improve in that regard. Sexuality is a part of the human experience, and it’s not always going to be pretty and healthy. This isn’t a happy story. And to people that complain about Ros and her “sexposition” role, doesn’t it make sense to create a role for one woman with personality, rather than to present several faceless prostitutes? Sex workers exist in our world, too. And exposition is needed in a tale as dense as A Song of Ice and Fire. It could’ve been done smoother, I acknowledge.

Seriously, more male nudity. Thanks.

The issue of rape in the show and the books is far more complicated. I realize it’s an extremely sensitive and triggering topic, but I think it would be wrong to avoid mentioning sexual abuse in the context of this post. Should the show refrain from depicting non-consensual sex? I can accept rape being part of a story as long as it isn’t sensationalized or blamed on the victim. I don’t want to see it treated casually or depicted any more than the story dictates. (The TV show’s alteration of Dany and Drogo’s wedding night is a very debatable issue, but I think it dealt with a weak point in the novel – the non-consensual marriage and unwanted sex after the wedding night- as well as it could, but more on that another time.) I’ve seen some complain about sexual abuse being a part of the series at all. I’m interested in knowing how people here feel about that.

As Ginia Bellafante demonstrated in her New York Times article, a lot of sexism we encounter with Game of Thrones comes from critics and the fandom. Fantasy fans are often subject to stereotyping; female fantasy fans get a double whammy, in that even liking the genre is suspect. Bellafante said she’s never met a woman who “refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to The Hobbit first.”  So not only are we strange nerds, we’re also invisible. That isn’t true at all. I look at the Game of Thrones fandom- on message boards, Tumblr, ONTD, and beyond- and I see so many women on a regular basis that it never occurs to me to think it’s strange. It’s the norm, and people are beginning to learn that.

Just trying to save her father's life, no big deal.

Sexism within the fandom is troubling. I love a good debate about Game of Thrones players. I don’t care for its women being considered stupid or useless if they do something that the male characters disapprove of, or if they adhere to a traditionally feminine role. Arya is amazing and bucks the Westerosi female role, but that doesn’t mean Sansa sucks for wanting to wear dresses and get married. The habitual pitting of two females against each other is an annoying bit of sexism. I’d be a happy woman if people stopped reducing Cersei’s complex personality to “dumb whore.” These women are not delicate flowers without fault; they are equal players in the game of thrones. The sexism I see is usually in people’s interpretations, and rarely in Martin’s writing or in the Game of Thrones scripting.

These are my thoughts of the matter. What are yours? I know not all of you would agree, and I respect that. There are few things as infuriating to any woman- any person- as being told what they should be doing or feeling. With several powerful new female characters in GoT’s second season, I think the subject is only going to become more intriguing.

In the Art Direction clip, we get glimpses of:

• A gold-and-green beautifully decorated tent, presumably Renly’s
• Joffrey’s red pavilion atop city walls, as seen in previous Dubrovnik production footage. Sketches of the King’s Landing streets and walls are also included.
• the streets of Qarth, with Jorah Mormont, and views of the Qartheen people and birds. (Qarth is going to be incredible eye candy this season!)
• a rough snowy house made with logs. I believe this to be Craster’s home. An actor is visible  near the door, but the film’s too blurry and dark to tell who it is. Maybe Craster himself?
• Winterfell’s courtyard
• the courtyard and ruinous walls of Harrenhal, with Tywin Lannister riding into the yard. There’s also a production sketch of the walls shown.
• Theon and the Drowned Priest meeting on the shore at Pyke
• Dragonstone, briefly. Also some small horned skulls are shown later – other wildlife, or the smaller dragons’ skulls, I’m not certain.

Fury: The video is short but has a lot of fresh footage. The set decoration is even more detailed than last season, which I’m really excited about. Check out the clip if you have access to the HBO app. Hopefully the video will be online in the near future and available to everyone at that point.

UPDATE: Thanks to @wabawanga for providing us with screencaps from the vid. I’ve embedded a few of the most revealing shots below, the rest I’ve posted to our Tumblr.

UPDATE 2: The video is now available online at the Making Game of Thrones blog.

Episode 1 (#11) – ‘The North Remembers’
Episode 2 (#12) – ‘Nightlands’

Winter Is Coming: What do you think about the above titles? Do they look legit? And what are your guesses for the titles for the rest of the season?

The second one, just to make sure you do not get spoil(er)ed, is embedded after the jump.

It’s a take of a mob scene choreography, with Joffrey surrounded by the Kingsguard negotiating his way through the crowd.

Hear Me Roar: What do you think the scene with the Hound is? “Blackwater” would be a good guess, but then again it’s a day scene. Who is he fighting?

Svinafellsjokull calving glacier in Skaftafell became the main filming location, followed by shooting days near Smyrlabjorg and then in the mountains by Vik on Hofdabrekkuheidi. Pegasus was relying on fresh snowfall to cover the remaining ash on Svinafellsjokull, which did arrive, if a little late.

Einar Sveinn Thordarson is with Pegasus Pictures: “There was a lot of snowfall, to the point that on the second-to-last shooting days roads were blocked and vehicles were stuck in snow and sliding off the road. We managed to get to the location though. Ironically, on that day, the scene being filmed looked great in a blizzard, so we were happy we ordered it!”

The new photos provide us glimpses of a few different scenes being filmed. We know from an earlier glimpse at Ygritte, that the ones with the folks in the white, Inuit-style garb is likely a pack of wildlings. That would mean the guys in the black furs are probably Night’s Watch men. The pic at the top of this post, could that be from the Fist of the First Men?

Winter Is Coming: Some intriguing photos. And they filmed in a blizzard!? I want to hear more about that. Hopefully Cat Taylor can give us a few more details on that one in her upcoming set reports from Iceland.

[Hat tip to Lisa for the find!]