Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season

HBO’s sprawling fantasy epic series adapted from the novel cycle A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, was originally planned to run seven seasons but HBO convinced producers David Benioff and D.B Weiss to extend the final season and present it in two parts. So in essence this seven-episode run is the first half of the last season, beginning the process of pulling the vast number of storylines together as Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), the Mother of Dragons, brings her armies to Westeros to claim the Iron Throne from Cersei (Lena Headey), and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) defends Westeros from the undead Walkers on the other side of the Wall. The series has outpaced Martin’s novels and you can see it in the storytelling, which has become more dramatically urgent as it brings characters and storylines together and lays the groundwork for an epic finale. And it continues to deliver spectacle on a scale unseen on TV—epic battles with massive armies, armadas of ships, and fire-breathing dragons flying into battle—as well as compelling human stories. It’s a superb, thrilling season of HBO’s signature series, one that devoted fans will be eager to see while awaiting the conclusion, which is slated to run sometime in 2019. Compiling all seven episodes from the 2017 seventh season, extras include episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and in-episode guides. The Blu-ray edition also features an exclusive bonus disc with the animated storybook “Conquest and Rebellion,” a prequel history of Westeros narrated by members of the regular cast. Highly recommended. Editor’s Choice. (S. Axmaker)