The Game of Thrones Season 5 home boxset is coming out on March 15, and HBO is continuing to leak video features to various websites. It’s already released History and Lore videos on Robert’s Rebellion (narrated by Barristan Selmy, so we get the Targaryen perspective) and on the Many-Faced God. Recently, HBO followed up on the latter by allowing Entertainment Weekly Canada to post a History and Lore video about the Free City of Braavos.
Unfortunately, the video doesn’t embed properly here, but you can see it on Entertainment Weekly Canada’s website or Facebook page.
"Game Of Thrones S5 Blu-Ray Exclusive: Braavos#EXCLUSIVE: Game of Thrones’ Season Five blu-ray is packed with fun featurettes, like this animated look at the city of BraavosPosted by ET Canada on Friday, March 4, 2016"
This video, like all the History and Lore features, will only be available on the Blu-ray, not the DVD, release. Although these do have a way of migrating onto the internet.
The narrator, who sounds like Mark Gatiss (Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank) deems Braavos “the wealthiest and most powerful of the Free Cities, and, one could argue, the most beautiful.” I’m sure the leaders of Volantis might contest that, but it’s fun that the characters bring their personal biases into their narrations.
Nestoris talks about the Uncloaking of Uthero, when the city of Braavos, long hidden from the world, announced itself to the Valyrian empire, and smoothed over the fact that the city was founded by slaves who rebelled against the that empire by paying restitution for the ships they had stolen. The video also touches on the flamboyant braavos, of whom Syrio Forel is something of a patron saint; the Sealord of Braavos, who rules over the city; and the hidden functions of the Titan of Braavos.
Season 5 did a great job of getting the look and feel of Braavos right, but understandably didn’t have time to get into many of these details. Arya will still be hanging out in the city in Season 6, so we’ll see how much deeper the show goes.