Attending the DVD launch for Game of Thrones season three was only ever really going to focus on two words – ‘red’ and ‘wedding’ – but we were blown away by the arrival of something noticeably missing in episode nine, an amazing wedding cake.
The Red Wedding cake specifically created for the launch, could only be attributed to the genius creators of Choccywoccydoodah! According to HBO it took four people over 20 hours to make, with every dagger and sword made of out of chocolate, the whole creation is edible. The ingredients we were told are rum and raisin, an insane amount of chocolate and a rather dark helping of stark blood. We’ve yet to hear back on the cost of the cake but this is a must for any Game of Thrones fan party!
We were treated to a sneak preview of some of the bonus content featuring on the DVDs and it was all about ‘that’ episode. Showrunners David Benihoff and D.B Weiss have touted ‘that’ episode as the very reason they decided to put Game of Thrones into production and everything they’ve done so far was leading to that moment. So, don’t read on if you haven’t seen ‘that’ episode!
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) popped in to open the screening and regaled stories about her time on the show and how Arya has evolved over the seasons. Maisie, ever effortless with her charm and wit, talked about her experiences on set during season three, explaining it was a challenge but an important turning point for Arya, who we see become more ruthless. She hinted we should come to expect even more from Arya in season four. ‘She means business, her whole family have been ruthlessly taken away from her.’
Maisie talked about how much change Arya has gone through since signing up to the role and she was proud to see Arya’s sassiness really shine through in her scenes with The Hound (Rory McCann). Maisie expressed her admiration for Rory and how it fared acting with a huge 6ft Scot against her tiny 5ft frame, ‘Arya and the Hound’s relationship is changing as they start to embrace this love hate relationship, it’s great fun’ she said.
But perhaps something we all forget in amidst of this fantastic show is just how far actors go to embrace their roles. In Maisies’s case she’s a right hander but in the books Arya is actually left handed, so all the scenes you see with Arya is Maisie using every inch of her talent to really embrace the role. Being able to serve Charles Dance wine with a wobbly left hand is in itself an act of courage and strength, as well as act out combat scenes with her trusty Needle.
When asked about her thoughts on the reaction to the red wedding she stated she’d never seen such stong reactions from friends and fans. Maise’s own Vine reaction in itself reached critical acclaim, if you missed it you can check it out below.
Re-living the Red Wedding is not an easy ask, it’s a perfect reminder of how good doesn’t always overcome evil and how quite simply the best of us don’t always make it. The episode has the perfect allure in that everything was seemingly getting back on track, Rob embraces Catelyn back into his camp and admits he needs her counsel, hurrah the Starks are back on top! Little did we know all that extra set-lighting, bright new costumes and wedding merriment is just a trap to make the chilling notes of ‘The Rains of Castermere’ beating from a cello mark a day that shocked the world into disbelief.
Without spoiling the delights of the bonus footage we can say there are some truly amazing insights from David Benihoff, D.B Weiss the production team and the cast, which quite frankly any die hard Game of Thrones fan is going to love. There’s no denying Game of Thrones just keeps getting bigger and more harrowing as time goes on, but the sheer scale of the production is just mind blowing, Benihoff summed this up nicely by stating ‘If we could use real dragons, we would’.
Finally try and guess how many gallons of blood were used in production for the Red Wedding? No, we’re not going to tell you, you’ll have to buy the DVD.
Game of Thrones season three is on sale 17th February, £39,99 DVD, £49.99 Blu-Ray, Seasons 1,2,3 a bargain at £64.99, £74.99 Blu-Ray. Or for die-hard fans opt for a Blu-Ray limited edition set of season three, complete with Dragon sculpture, if you want it you’ll have to stump £104.99 and pre-order from Amazon.
