HBO - APRIL 17 - GAME OF THRONES

This is big, this is epic ...... 4 civilizations fighting for one throne.
There are knights, dragons, warriors and a touch of the supernatural .... filmed in Northern Ireland and Malta simultaneously .... we meet peoples who inhabit worlds of snow and ice and forest and desert.
Love, betrayal, greed and murder ........ it's about a power struggle set in the fantasy kingdom of Westeros.

EDDARD STARK [SEAN BEAN] SITTING ON THE IRON THRONE

A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of four published volumes with three more planned. There are also three prequel novellas available, with several more planned, and a series of novellas consisting of excerpts of the main novels. One of these excerpt novellas has won a Hugo Award. The series has been translated into more than twenty languages and the fourth volume reached the top of The New York Times bestseller lists upon its release. Overall, the series has more than 4.5 million copies in print in the USA and sold more than 7 million worldwide.

Game of Thrones Exclusive Preview

The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily upon a continent called Westeros but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos. Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses other races are introduced, such as the cold and menacing Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East, both races thought to be extinct by the people of the story. There are three principal storylines in the series: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros between several competing families; the rising threat of the Others who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years previously, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne. As the series progresses, all three storylines become increasingly interwoven and dependent on each other.

The first series will consist of 10 episodes.

HOUSE STARK

The Stark family traces its lineage back to the First Men, who landed in Westeros more than 10,000 years ago and eventually forged a lasting peace with the continent’s druidic natives, the Children of the Forest. The Starks still worship the Old Gods of their forbears at the heart tree in Winterfell, one of the last vestiges of their faith on Westeros. The Starks ruled as kings in the north (beginning with Bran the Builder, who erected the Wall) until the Targaryen conquest.

Their Words: “Winter Is Coming”



HOUSE BARATHEON

The House of Baratheon was founded after the conquest of Aegon Targaryen, by the conqueror’s general (and rumored bastard brother) Orys Baratheon. The blood of the Storm Kings – a line of royals dating back to the Age of Heroes – has run through the Baratheon line ever since Orys killed the final Storm King, Argilac the Arrogant, and took his daughter as a wife. Recently, following Robert’s Rebellion, the Baratheons seized the Iron Throne from the Mad King Aerys Targaryen and have ruled the Seven Kingdoms since.

Their Words: “Ours Is the Fury”


HOUSE LANNISTER

The Lannisters descend in part from a group of Andal adventurers who invaded Westeros more than 6,000 years ago and settled at Casterly Rock. The Andals married the daughters of the King of the Rock (an ancestor of Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster who acquired the Rock through his wiles during the Age of Heroes). The Lannisters ruled as kings in their realm until the Targaryens brought dragons to conquer the continent, placing all the lords of Westeros under control of the Iron Throne.

Their Words: “Hear Me Roar”



HOUSE TARGARYEN

The Targaryens came to Westeros from the ancient civilization of Valyria, bringing dragons from the eastern continent and settling on the island of Dragonstone in the Narrow Sea. After an unknown disaster known as the Doom of Valyria wiped out their ancestral homeland and killed most of the world’s dragons, the Targaryens invaded the mainland of Westeros. Aegon the Conqueror ruled from King’s Landing, where his family lived on for generations, marrying brother to sister to preserve “the blood of the dragon.”

Their Words: “Fire and Blood”




HOUSE ARRYN

Located in the Vale, the Arryns serve as wardens of the East. The Arryns’ ancestry lies in the first Andals to arrive in Westeros. According to lore, the knight Ser Artys Arryn took the Vale from the First Men, fighting from the back of a giant falcon.

Lord Jon Arryn (225 AL - 297 AL) was Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale and Warden of the East. He served as Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon from 283 AL until his death in 297 AL.

Their Words: “As High As Honor”