Dragons dance in New York for 'Game of Thrones' DVD launch
You've got to hand it to HBO and Game of Thrones: They know how to celebrate.
For the series' Season 5 DVD launch -- remember DVDs? Those things everyone makes fun of me for still owning? -- HBO was all about one thing: dragons.
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It all started Tuesday morning with a staged dragon landing in Union Square. No -- there were no actual dragons, but an installation gave the appearance that a dragon had skidded to a stop at the south of the square, narrowly avoiding a spectacular crash.
A fake dragon landing might seem like more than enough fanfare for a DVD launch -- but life in Westeros is all or nothing. (See also: "You win or you die.")
By early afternoon, fans were already lining up in Herald Square, 20 blocks north, to ensure their spots for the evening's screening of "The Dance of Dragons." No, not the Thrones episode of the same name; it's an animated featurette about the history of the Targaryen family.
Press members got a few minutes with the event's special guest: Liam Cunningham, better known as series regular Ser Davos Seaworth.
In spite of his unflinching allegiance to Stannis Baratheon (until recently), Davos is one of the few characters on Game of Thrones who ever talks sense. Even fan favorites -- the Aryas and Khaleesis of the world -- often act without clarity or reason.
"As the old cliche goes, all it needs for evil to triumph is for good people to stay silent," Cunningham told Mashable.
"So in our hearts I think we all want to be that person who goes ‘This is wrong,’ and hopefully other people will go ‘Yeah, he’s right, this is wrong,’ and we stand up against injustice."
"[Davos] can’t live with doing the wrong thing. It’s not even him being brave, he’s just -- he’s incapable of doing bad for the sake of something else," the actor continued.
"If you’ve got to get on, you’ve got to be able to sleep at night. You’ve got to be able to look in the mirror. He’s that kind of character and I think a lot of us — male, female, whatever —would like to be that. He’s quietly heroic. That’s what I like about him."
Cunningham took the stage, to thunderous applause, to introduce "The Dance of Dragons."
The 20-minute film is beautifully animated, and features voiceovers from former Thrones cast members Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen), Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon), Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark), Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) and Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon).
After the screening, Cunningham returned to the stage to remind the audience that though it seemed the dragons died out in "The Dance of Dragons," they aren't really gone.
"Just look up!" he declared -- and thousands of eyes followed his direction.
Dragon projections then took a short tour of midtown, appearing on HBO's Sixth Avenue headquarters and the New York Public Library.
Related: Is it April 24 yet?
Topics Game Of Thrones HBO
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
