Game of Thrones’ fifth season is already available on HBO On Demand, HBO Go, Digital HD and the occasional rerun on HBO, but if you’re holding out for the solidly packaged Blu-ray version of the season, you won’t have too much longer to wait. The set is expected to hit shelves in March, and to entice you to purchase, HBO is including what may be the coolest bonus feature ever with the set. Called “The Dance Of Dragons,” the lengthy animated segment will look back at the history of Westeros prior to the events in Game of Thrones.
Here’s why you should be excited. First and foremost, the feature will be 20-minutes long and it will delve into the history of the Targaryens and the battles that have been alluded to on the series. It gets even more exciting. Our buddy Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones during Season 4, is back to narrate “The Dance of Dragons.” Plus a ton of former GOT actors also lend their voices to the bit, including Jack Gleeson, Michelle Fairley, Mark Addy, Harry Lloyd and Kerry Ingram. The segment features battling dragons flying through the air and would be really cool if we were watching it in live action on HBO. As it stands, it fills in a lot of the gaps and enriches the already complex narrative we get with Game of Thrones.
If you want a sneak peak, IGN got the sneak peek at the extra, and it’s been included, below.
So, the animation’s not the greatest. In fact, it’s rather poor, but again, it’s really nice to be getting this sort of information—especially if you haven’t read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels. And even if you have, the origins of this segment are pretty obscure, although Martin is expected to finish writing a complete history of House Targaryen soon.
We’ve known that Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season would be hitting Blu-ray on March 15, 2016 for a while. HBO Home Entertainment typically releases the sets shortly before the upcoming season premieres and Season 6 is expected to hit the schedule this coming April. In addition to “The Dance of Dragons” featurette, other extras include segments on Dorne and the Sand Snakes’ intimate knowledge or poisons and weapons, a tour of the new locations in Season 5, a Season 4 recap and more. Yeah, I know, none of these will probably hold a candle to the 20-minute animated extra that we get a glimpse at, here.
Luckily, if you are more looking forward to the new season than owning the Blu-ray, we have you covered. Season 6 is scheduled to return in April, and we’ve already seen a pretty sweet poster and a teaser trailer reminding us that Bran will be back for the new set of episodes. If you’d like to know what you are getting into with Season 6, you can check out everything we know. In addition, here’s all of the TV shows that have been announced this winter.
