After an exciting premiere, Game of Thrones slowed down a little this week and relied on a lot of exposition (but no trademark sexposition!)  Things jumped around quite a bit, checking in on everyone except for Dany and Stannis, which was fairly mind-boggling.  Adding to that, we met quite a few new people.  It’s at times like these I wonder about you non-book readers.  I’m excited to see the faces of familiar characters, whereas I can only imagine most people watching are thinking, “who’s this new, unwashed bearded guy?  I was just starting to get the other 39 unwashed, bearded guys straight!”  Actually occasionally I feel that way, too.  Anyway, this week we swirled all around the Seven Kingdoms and came out knowing a lot more than we did, without really knowing too much.  Hit the jump, I have lemon cakes!

As if you didn’t see this one coming: HBO has renewed the immensely popular fantasy series Game of Thrones for a fourth season.  The pickup comes just a couple of days after the show’s season three premiere, which pulled in a record-breaking 4.4 million viewers.  The renewal was essentially a foregone conclusion, as Game of Thrones has been a massively profitable series for HBO.  Not only does the show pull in great ratings, but its DVDs and Blu-rays—an incredibly lucrative market for the pay cable network—are record sellers.  Hit the jump for more.

The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones are proving that watching TV live is still something viewers want to do.  Though DV-Rs, OnDemand and online viewing have seemingly reduced traditional ratings by allowing access long after the live event, there’s still something to be said for tuning in to the zeitgeist and wanting to experience what everyone else is.  It was a big night for TV, with two of the most popular shows had important episodes: AMC’s The Walking Dead wrapped up its third season while HBO’s Game of Thrones had a much anticipated premiere.  It looks like more people chose zombies over Westeros this week, but hit the jump for the numbers breakdown and what it all means.

Game of Thrones returns — welcome back to Westeros, ladies and hedge knights, wenches and thieves.  You are forgiven for thinking in the episode’s first few minutes that you still had the dial on AMC and had stumbled onto The Walking Dead, but things picked right back up north of the wall where the show left them, with Sam lost in the whiteness and coming across something, well, undead.  In case you had forgotten, Winter is Coming.  In fact, it seems to be here.  And for most of the rest of the hour we checked back in on all of those poor Southren folk who know not what wickedness their way comes.  Hit the jump for more on who we saw (and who we didn’t) in this episode that moved from ice to fire.

HBO’s epic masterpiece Game of Thrones is back for Season 3, with bigger battles, devastating betrayals and more deaths, as everyone fights for control of the Iron Throne.  Now that magic is growing stronger and the dragons have been let loose, there’s no telling who might be in jeopardy or in power next.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Michelle Fairley (“Catelyn Stark”), Maisie Williams (“Arya Stark”) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (“Bran Stark”) talked about bonding during the first season, how hard it is for Catelyn to be separated from her family, how the Reeds will add to the dynamic of the group, how much they know of their characters from the books, what it’s like to see the fans react to all of the show’s surprises, how different it is to do the show now, experiencing the fandom in America, who they’d like to have scenes with, and whether or not they’ve ever tried sitting on the Iron Throne.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.  

At last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, it’d only been weeks since the Mondo crew (who you really oughtta be following by now on Twitter via @MondoNews) announced their acquisition of the Lord of the Rings license.  Fantasy fans were pretty thrilled about that headed into the Con (several people told me Tyler Stout was “definitely” going to show up to the Con and drop a new poster set for Peter Jackson’s franchise), but they had a different, equally exciting surprise waiting for them that week:  the start of a Game of Thrones series.  We’ve seen a ton of Game of Thrones-themed prints since then, but the two dropping tomorrow—from artists Aaron Horkey and Richey Beckett—are two of the best in the whole run.  See ‘em after the jump, folks.

HBO’s epic masterpiece Game of Thrones is back for Season 3, with bigger battles, devastating betrayals and more deaths, as everyone fights for control of the Iron Throne.  Now that magic is growing stronger and the dragons have been let loose, there’s no telling who might be in jeopardy or in power next.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Kit Harington (“Jon Snow”), John Bradley (“Samwell Tarly”) and Rose Leslie (“Ygritte”) talked about what’s it like to film with the conditions in Iceland, how isolating the location can feel from the rest of the cast, how Jon Snow will face his biggest struggle yet this season, what Samwell’s place in the Night’s Watch is, how Jon Snow’s relationship with Mance Rayder will develop and what it’s like to have Ciarán Hinds join the cast, how complicated things will become between Jon and Ygritte, whether Jon still wants to know who his mother is, how much deeper the fantasy aspect will get this season, how much of the books they’ve read, and their hopes for their characters, beyond this season.  Check out what they had to say, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

HBO’s epic masterpiece Game of Thrones is back for Season 3, with bigger battles, devastating betrayals and more deaths, as everyone fights for control of the Iron Throne.  Now that magic is growing stronger and the dragons have been let loose, there’s no telling who might be in jeopardy or in power next.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Jaime Lannister”) and Gwendoline Christie (“Brienne of Tarth”) talked about the evolution of Jaime Lannister, the similarities between Jaime and Brienne, whether they can develop a mutual respect for each other, how their sword-fighting skills are growing, whether Jaime feels as though he needs redemption, who they’d each like to have scenes with in the future, and experiencing the intense fandom in America.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

With the season premiere of Game of Thrones less than a week away, HBO has continued their marketing onslaught by releasing a new promo and a new featurette.  The promo once again reminds us that the dragons are going to be a big factor in the new season, and as for the featurette, I highly encourage you to watch it.  It goes into detail about creating the world of the Wildlings, and the amount of effort and detail that makes the world come alive.  You probably won’t notice these details when watching the show, but subconsciously they make the world believable.  This is the case for all of the settings on the series, but showing the technical work in creating the life beyond The Wall is a fine example of how the show’s technical departments work their magic.  The featurette also devotes time to new character Mance Rayder (played by the great Ciaran Hinds).

Hit the jump to check out the promo and the featurette.  Also, be sure to check out Allison’s recap of Season Two.  Game of Thrones premieres on March 31st at 9/8c.

HBO’s juggernaut drama Game of Thrones returns next week with its third season, and for the first time Collider will be doing weekly recaps of all of the action.  In the meantime, with all of the many, many storylines and innumerable characters swirling around in Westeros (and, for the moment, Qarth) why not take a look back at where things left off last year, with a comprehensive list of who is where, and where they will be heading.  No spoilers for the upcoming season, but obviously if you haven’t finished Season Two then in the name of the Seven go no further!  Hit the jump for why you never, ever want to hear three horn blasts on the Wall.

HBO’s epic masterpiece Game of Thrones is back for Season 3, with bigger battles, devastating betrayals and more deaths, as everyone fights for control of the Iron Throne.  Now that magic is growing stronger and the dragons have been let loose, there’s no telling who might be in jeopardy or in power next.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Sophie Turner (“Sansa Stark”) and Natalie Dormer (“Margaery Tyrell”) talked about how nice Jack Gleeson is versus how much people hate King Joffrey, how the relationship between Sansa and Margaery will evolve in Season 3, what it was like to work with Diana Rigg (“Olenna”), how Sansa has found her strength after the Battle of Blackwater, what sort of relationship both women will have with Cersei (Lena Headey), how much of the books they’ve read, that the actors get together in Belfast for a read-through of five episodes over two days before each season starts shooting, how they feel like fans of the show themselves, and how much of an effect the success of Game of Thrones has had on them.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

With Game of Thrones returning for Season 3 on March 31^st, the Academy of Television hosted an evening to celebrate the cast and creative team, and the huge success of the popular HBO drama series, while giving a glimpse into what fans can expect as the story continues.  Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what the behind-the-scenes talent had to say during the Q&A.

During the discussion, executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, along with author George R.R. Martin, talked about how this book series came to be a TV show at HBO, having to re-shoot 90% of the pilot, making sure that Martin gets his cameo this season, the biggest difficulties in shooting with different first units on different episodes in different countries on a daily basis, who the funniest actors on set are, whether the dire wolves are real or CG, the most technically difficult episode to shoot, whether getting to know the actors makes them feel guilty about killing characters off, the process for changing what is in the books, how there will be a few different people sitting on the Iron Throne before the series is done, and why Season 3 is the one they were most excited about doing.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Over 50 new images from season three of HBO’s Game of Thrones are now available.  They feature all of your series favorites in addition to a bunch of new characters who will  attempt to make their marks this year.  As much fun as it is to check out the varied and detailed costumes worn across the lands of Westeros and beyond, it’s much more entertaining to see what kind of crazy expressions the actors pull (see Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr above).

The series stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Michelle Fairley, Emilia Clarke, Alfie Allen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson, Aidan Gillen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Richard Madden, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  Game of Thrones returns March 31st at 9pm (EST).

The new season of Game of Thrones will soon be upon us, and HBO has seriously cranked up their marketing.  Two new TV spots have been released along with another full-length trailer.  All of the ads convey two important facts.  First, the show is as epic and sprawling as ever, and maybe it’s time to start killing off some characters just as a matter of brevity.  Second, it’s time for dragons, baby.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spots and trailer.  The series stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Michelle Fairley, Emilia Clarke, Alfie Allen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson, Aidan Gillen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Richard Madden, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  Game of Thrones returns March 31st at 9pm (EST).

The highly anticipated return of HBO’s Game of Thrones is nigh, and the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly is celebrating all things GoT to mark the occasion.  The magazine has revealed a few character portraits featuring Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Richard Madden, and Rose Leslie, in addition to this week’s Jon Snow/Dany-fronted cover.  It’s great to see the characters back in action, and Leslie’s Ygritte looks to have cleaned up rather nicely.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images, and click here to watch the most recent trailer.  Season three of Game of Thrones begins on Sunday, March 31st at 9pm.