Exclusive Preview From The Game of Thrones Season 6 Blu-ray: The Great Tourney at Harrenhal

Starks

After much anticipation, and plenty of teasing, Game of Thrones The Complete Sixth Season arrives today!

Before you run off to order the Season 6 DVD or pick up your new Game of Thrones Blu-ray at the store, we have an exclusive preview to share with you all. Courtesy of HBO, Watchers on the Wall readers are receiving a sneak peek at a bonus extra from the Game of Thrones Blu-ray!

The Clio Award-winning Histories & Lore series is a major highlight of the home release every year, and HBO has pulled out all the stops for season 6. Eighteen Histories & Lore videos fill out the Game of Thrones Blu-ray this year, and we’re lucky enough to be presenting my personal favorite.

The Great Tourney at Harrenhal is a story that’s taken on shades of legend in the A Song of Ice and Fire world. It tells the tale of a fateful tourney attended by Howland Reed and the previous Stark generation (including Ned and his siblings) in the year of the false spring. The story is originally shared by Meera in A Storm of Swords, and here, we’re treated to Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed narrating.


Along with the gorgeously animated Histories & Lore, the Blu-ray offers an In-Episode Guide to help you dig deeper into the show PLUS all of the features found on the Season 6 DVD. The Complete Sixth Season DVD includes audio commentaries for every episode (2 commentaries for some- complete listing found HERE!) and invaluable behind-the-scenes features including:

The Battle of the Bastards: An In-Depth Look – Behind-the-scenes piece examining the production challenges of creating this epic event, including explorations of VFX, stunts, and interviews with key cast and crew.

Recreating the Dothraki World – Behind-the-scenes piece looking at the creation of Vaes Dothrak and its importance to Dany’s evolution.

18 Hours at the Paint Hall – Follow all three shooting units as they converge in this behind-the-scenes snapshot of a day in the life of the largest show on television

Plus, there are FOUR deleted scenes. So whether you go for the Blu-ray or the DVD, you’re going to be very satisfied and filled with Game of Thrones goodness.

Reminder! This afternoon, we’ll be announcing the four winners of our Blu-ray giveaway so the Season 6 Home Release excitement isn’t over yet!

GOT_S6_SD_GLAM (5-10)

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

58 Comments

  1. Very excited to watch the Tourney of Harrenhal. I just wish we could see/hear when Rhaegar meets TKOTLT(Lyanna or Howland) but I think we might have to wait for ADOS before we are treated to that confrontation. Other than that it should be a joy to watch!

  2. Having already watched all the lore extras (my copy arrived on Saturday – Either Amazon over her in the UK loves me or I was just lucky) they are all imo worth a watch. This one was the best one out of the whole set.

  3. Lyana seems so badass. She is like Arya,Brienne and Sansa combined
    Cries with the song but kick everyone’s ass with her sword at the same time.

  4. GoT Histories & Lore are always amazing… and this one in particular is great!! Love Ellie Kendrick’s narration.

  5. I guess this being included in the DVD makes it very unlikely that we will see a TaH flashback (through Bran) in the show next season.

  6. The video is gorgeous. Ellie Kendrick’s voice and narration is perfect. The animation’s different but still beautiful. No matter how many videos I watch of the Tourney, I can never get enough. The generation that came before Jon, Dany, et al., made a hell of a mess of things, but I just love hearing the story of all the lords and ladies getting together for one big-ass party of non-stop drinking, dancing, flirting, and jousting. Those people knew how to have fun, the current generation – not so much.

  7. HyberNate
    I think (or want to believe) the contrary. They could have quickly shown Rhaegar winning and approaching Lyanna when Meera said “he must have seen prince Rhaegar’s victory”, so I believe we will see it. Now, if that means during season 7 or 8, we’ll have to painfully wait and see, but I feel as though they simply cannot skip this flashback, even though they’ve already mentioned it. It has to be Rhaegar’s introduction, right?

  8. It’s very beatiful…….Ellie Kendrick has an amazing voice……

    Flayed Potatoes,

    Yes……Mad king commands Rhaegar find the knight……He thought that his enemies send him……..

  9. This was probably my favorite Histories & Lore this season. Though there are others that are just as amazing, honestly. It was great to see this story recounted, except not in the vague fable-like terms Reed tells it to Bran in the books. I wonder if we’ll ever see it in the show itself. That’d be great, though very expensive for just a flashback, unless they focused solely on a few details.

  10. I really like these animated GOT bonuses, but in this one Ellie Kendrick’s narration is so beautifully done that it would’ve been just as good if there were no visuals.

  11. orange,

    Robert was determined to unmask the KotLT, and Aerys asked men to defeat him the next day, but the KotLT didn’t appear. That’s when Aerys told Rhaegar to find him.

  12. I have yet to watch any Histories and Lore, and I think I might since we have an extra long off season.

    Are viewers expected to watch these and learn more and expected to KNOW these things when watching the regular season?

    Im just curious… or are these more like FYIs but if you never watch will not affect your understanding of the regular season?

    I think ive asked before but have forgotten what the answer has been

  13. Anyone know when and where I can watch all the rest? I’ve only been able to find the one about Riverrun which is also really good.

  14. orange,

    I’m just saying that the video says Aerys asked Robert to take to the lists and unmask the KotLT. That seems to combine the fact that in the story as told in the books, Aerys asked men to defeat the knight in the next day’s joust while Robert was determined to unmask the man. It wasn’t until after the KotLT disappeared that Aerys asked Rhaegar. So the video didn’t really replace Rhaegar with Robert.

  15. God damn the art is outstanding!

    Dee Stark,

    I know most of the info in there from the books. But I never felt these videos are mandatory to understand the story. Mostly they are backstory from years before the current events even begin.

    They are quite good though at expending the world and, as it’s name suggest, it’s history and lore.

    I think they are worth watching, but nowhere near mandatory.

    I would suggest you prepare yourself a bit, as S1-2 are a bit boring, just characters narrating various subjects, places…etc.
    But they get better and better from there. S3 is much better then the previous 2 and S4-5 are better then S3 and from the 3 clips I saw of S6, it should be the best one so far.

    Also you can watch them in order if you want, but it’s not really that important in my opinion.

  16. Dee Stark,

    Not mandatory, as Mihnea told you, but very much worth watching. Unlike him, I like very much the S1 and S2 H&L. The drawing is exquisite in both and they provide background and context for many things in the show… The artwork of S5 H&L is my least favourite, but still very nice… and you have the Dance of the Dragons story!!

    And as you’ve mentioned… it’s a long long wait until S7, so it would provide some relief during the withdrawal period. 😀

  17. “That night at the great castle, [Robert,] the storm lord and the [Richard Lonmouth,] knight of skulls and kisses each swore they would unmask him, and the king himself urged men to challenge him, declaring that the face behind that helm was no friend of his. But the next morning, when the heralds blew their trumpets and the king took his seat, only two champions appeared. The Knight of the Laughing Tree had vanished. The king was wroth, and even sent his son [Rhaegar,] the dragon prince to seek the man, but all they ever found was his painted shield, hanging abandoned in a tree. It was the dragon prince who won that tourney in the end.”

    Aerys sent Robert and Richard Lonmouth after KOTLT first. He told Rhaegar to find KOTLT only after the mystery knight had disappeared.

  18. I would love to see a Rhaegar flashback…contrary to popular opinion here, I´m afraid the writers let his story in too little and maybe too late…EVERY single person not inmersed in this story has no clue who he is and that he is Jon´s dad…Heck,even when I read the books I didn´t even have a clue! I had to stumble on the R+L =J by accident to know what was really going on! It has NEVER been obvious,it´s just that people have been analyzing every single letter for 20 years 🙁

  19. Dee Stark,

    Miss you to! Miss you all, actually!

    A Dornish Tyrell,

    Well I don’t dislike them but they just aren’t my ”style”, I guess. For example check the new ones, like the tourney or Sydow narrating the previous one we got. They are more energetic, more in character, hinting at events and such. While the ones in S1-2 is more ”Catelyn’s voice narrating the Faith of the Seven”.

    I guess it’s just a difference in tastes, in the end.

  20. Dee Stark,

    There is no new info here. They’re reiterating the same stuff they repeat every couple months when a reporter asks if HBO is considering a prequel after GoT ends.

  21. I don’t think we’ll see the Tourney at Harrenhal next season, but I do think we may see the Isle of Faces. Or at least some kind of flashback when Lyanna Stark meets Rhaegar Targaryen in the Riverlands, and they marry at the Isle of Faces.

  22. Anonne:
    I don’t think we’ll see the Tourney at Harrenhal next season, but I do think we may see the Isle of Faces.Or at least some kind of flashback when Lyanna Stark meets Rhaegar Targaryen in the Riverlands, and they marry at the Isle of Faces.

    Why at the Isle of Faces? Wouldn’t they have to marry right after meeting each other at Harrenhal for that to happen?

  23. Anonne,

    Good point. But when would she have the opportunity to go there? Wouldn’t it need to happen at the Tower of Joy or somewhere around there? The Isle of Faces isn’t exactly close.

  24. Luka Nieto,

    There is a portion in The World of Ice and Fire that explains how Rhaegar went back into the Riverlands and encountered Lyanna again after Harrenhal.

    With the coming of the new year, the crown prince had taken to the road with half a dozen of his closest friends and confidants, on a journey that would ultimately lead him back to the Riverlands, not ten leagues from Harrenhal . . . where Rhaegar would once again come face-to-face with Lyanna Stark of Winterfell, and with her light a fire that would consume his house and kin and all those he loved—and half the realm besides.

    There is speculation that when Rhaegar went to look for the Knight of the Laughing Tree, he found her and kept her secret. And then afterward, in the coming weeks, he went back in the area and encountered Lyanna as she was traveling to Brandon’s wedding to Catelyn Tully. At the time Rickard Stark was traveling south for the wedding. And so they absconded, and rode south. Eventually to Dorne, though there is no detail about if he stopped at King’s Landing, told his father, or anything.

    Here is a good resource: https://ladygwynhyfvar.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/rescue-at-the-crossroads/

  25. Moon-Pale Maiden:
    The first Ashara HBO mention EVER. I’m flipping out, naturally.

    ME TOO! ME TOO! ASHARA DAYNE MENTION! ASHARA DAYNE MENTION! SQUEEEE!

    Phew! I’m so bummed that I’ll have to wait until Xmas day to watch these so that my kids have something to get me for Xmas. Anyone watched the “House Dayne” one yet? If so, do you have any tidbits to throw my way? Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?

  26. I love the way Lyanna is depicted. She’s so much like Arya and Ygritte. Fiesty, fierce, and protective of the underdog. She and George even cry over songs.

  27. Wow, so much great ASOIAF history here and the winter blue roses when Lyanna slashed her sword were a really nice touch!

  28. Ashara D,

    It mostly talks about Dawn and how it’s passed down/earned along with some key people who’ve wielded it. It’s narrated by young Ned, who talks about his admiration for Arthur Dayne and sadness about their fight at the ToJ

  29. Has anyone heard anything about the house sleeves that have been exclusive to Best Buy? I have made sure to get one every season, but this year I cant find anything about them anywhere. Nothing here, nothing on google and no help at Best Buy. Please someone help, I dont want to buy a copy only to have to repurchase for a house sleeve.

    If they are discontinuing those sleeves I would be very disappointed.

  30. Dolorous Bread,

    I have never read the books but know the dialogue of that scene and I could never understand why they didn’t discuss things a bit more before they fought to the death. Maybe I’m not thinking it through very well but it seems Arthur could have told him how they were simply guarding his sister and the new heir, that Rhaegar and she were in love and if he cares about her and his new nephew he has the choice to lay down his weapon and walk way.

  31. Dee Stark: Are viewers expected to watch these and learn more and expected to KNOW these things when watching the regular season?

    Almost certainly not. D&D are assiduous about setting up important plot devices before they become important. Just look at last season: not one of the Deus ex Machina devices that some fans predicted/hoped to appear did so. If the details of Harrenhall (or any other aspect of the faux history) was to be important, then the show would have worked it into not one, but multiple episodes. After all, only a tiny fraction of the show’s viewers are going to see this: fewer, even, than will read the books.

    Instead, this is supplementary material. That is, material tangential to the actual story, but there if you want fuller background than necessary to communicate the story. We do this in science all the time now, thanks to the Internet. Whenever I publish a paper, there is a supplementary section or set of supplementary sections that provide all sorts of extraneous details, including: 1) the computer code used to get the results; 2) alternate analyses that I decided were not quite as appropriate as the ones with which I went, but that can serve as contrasts with the officially published ones; 3) simulations showing how the methods used perform under different circumstances, and; 4) (of course) all of the data. It is much, much more than 99% of the readers will care to know, and actually putting all of this stuff into a paper would make it unreadable, and completely drown out the main thesis. However, for that 1% of “fanboys” who want to take the analyses a step further, or who think that maybe some other set of methods not used in my paper might generate different results, it’s all there.

  32. ygritte: Maybe I’m not thinking it through very well but it seems Arthur could have told him how they were simply guarding his sister and the new heir,

    Humans are not wont to do that. After all, there is nothing to discuss: to the Kingsguard, Ned & his men are traitors, and to Ned & his men, the Kingsguard are stooges who abetted kidnapping. Moreover, Ned would have been disgusted by Arthur Dayne so dishonoring himself by telling ridiculous lies in a cowardly attempt to save his own life. Dayne would have felt that he was dishonoring himself by trying to justify things to a traitor.

  33. Ashara D,

    What, you don’t think that we are going to see her next year in a flashback, waiting at the bottom of the path leading to the ToJ with baby Jon in her arms and waiting to see how Daddy’s visit with Uncle Art went?

    😀

  34. Mihnea: Well I don’t dislike them but they just aren’t my ”style”, I guess. For example check the new ones, like the tourney or Sydow narrating the previous one we got. They are more energetic, more in character, hinting at events and such. While the ones in S1-2 is more ”Catelyn’s voice narrating the Faith of the Seven”.

    I guess it’s just a difference in tastes, in the end.

    I totally see your point. The first ones are probably more descriptive and if you’ve read the books barely add anything new. I watched them before reading the books and I thought at the time they provided more background information (back then I had trouble remembering all the names and I used to mix characters… I remember that once I mistook Lancel Lannister for Loras Tyrell).

  35. Anonne,
    Luka Nieto,

    Yeah, the show tends to avoid extraneous backstory, and they generally have avoided monologues. This was not something that would have been relevant in any season where they could have done it.

    What the show did do on several occasions (and at least once a year) was remind the audience that Rhaegar had run off with Lyanna. It always came up in the context of something else that was immediately relevant (Oberyn discussing the wrongs that people in Kings Landing had done to his family; Sansa discussing the need to avenge her family, etc.), but it kept coming up. In a way, it is too bad that they could not have brought it in last year: but, then, last year was pretty full. Really, it would have had to have been at the expense of some other Bran scenes: but the ones that they kept were more important to last years payoff.

  36. Wimsey,

    I see. So they did see each other as enemies, nothing more. I thought since Ned had admiration for him it wsn’t always that way.

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