Take The Black: HBO Game of Thrones Season 2 DVD Release Event!

Hey everyone! We are going into overtime this week: not only do we have five episodes PLUS a weekend double-feature, but today we have special bonus content covering HBO's "Take The Black" event for the release of Season 2 on DVD and Blu-ray!

Westeros.org selected some people to have VIP access, and Brendan and I were lucky enough to be chosen! We got there early and snagged wristbands, then got taken on a tour of the setup on the street and inside the store (it took place at the Best Buy at Union Square). Meryl, our contact from Westeros.org who works with Campfire and was in charge of the event, led us around and showed us the highlights.

There's an escalator that takes you up to the store and the display that greeted us was pretty cool. More than the expected posters and banners, there was also Kit Harrington's ACTUAL full costume from the show and his sword, Longclaw! *swoon*

 There were crow decals leading the way to the filming station for the vows, complete with Twitter hashtag! A line had already started to form outside the booth, which was lined with black sound-dampening drapes. There was a monitor showing the person in the spotlight to amuse those still waiting.

I got to watch as Brendan was suited up in the sweet fur-collared cape, put in the spotlight in front of the green screen and wind machine, and said the words.

With the aid of a magician, all of this was transformed into Brendan in a snowy forest on a breezy day. 

He's pretty adorable, am I right? It's like he's a reporter in the 50's reporting on what the Night's Watch oath is.

After we were done swearing the oath, Meryl led us outside to the catering tent where the Feast Of Ice And Fire menu was being served.

I prepared myself to be disappointed, but I should have had faith in the recipes and HBO's choice in caterer. While there was an issue with the Berries and Sweet Cream (we talk about that in the podcast), everything was unbelievably delicious, piping hot, and beautifully presented. I was pretty damn impressed.

After I finished eating I saw Chelsea and Sariann, the authors of A Feast Of Ice And Fire, mingling and eating while wearing adorable yellow branded aprons. I managed to work up the courage to go ask them to sign my book, and then Brendan and I went to watch them working on the direwolf ice sculpture.

We were pretty engrossed in that when suddenly we heard the all-too-familiar strains of the opening theme from the show! We rushed over and were able to nab a pretty good spot from which to watch Jason Yang perform. He had a lot more accompaniment than I expected, and it sounded beautiful. There's a recording at the end of the podcast episode of the second performance of the night.

After that, Brendan and I headed inside to get warm and tracked down Chelsea and Sariann again, and we did an interview with them that makes up a great deal of the episode. They were awesome, very friendly and fun and they obviously know their food. Great to meet you, ladies!

Not the most flattering picture, but this isn't about me! At least Sariann and Chelsea look lovely!

 There were fewer costumes than we expected, but the ones that were there were fun. We had a Jon Snow and a Daenerys Targaryen.

And then there was the awesomeness, the swag bag! 

Brendan got an awesome Stark scarf, and I got a Baratheon! There were also beautiful sugar cookies with Take The Black decals on them. 

On the way out we got to see the beautiful finished ice sculpture. 

                  

                        

Pretty amazing, huh? I didn't expect such wonderful texturing, I wish I had gotten to watch them for longer. 

All in all it was a really fun event, one that we hope to come back to again next year. I wonder what theme they will go with then? Perhaps Kings Landing, or Riverrun! 

I hope you guys enjoy this bonus episode, the interview, and the music. See you tomorrow with the second to last chapter of A Storm Of Swords!