There were people who had doubts about the possibility that the public wanted to return to the universe of ‘Game of Thrones’, but at the moment of truth, ‘The House of the Dragon’ devastated everything, as it achieved so much applause from the critics as a historical success in audiences. The second season is already underway, but today it’s time to make a stop at the edition in physical format of the first.
Arvi has provided us with a copy of the limited edition of the first season on Ultra HD Blu-ray with a steelbook presentation. In the audiovisual area, there is no change with respect to the normal 4K edition, beyond the fact that the normal Blu-ray version is not included here and that in return the price is lower (49.99 euros for the limited edition compared to at 69.99 of the other edition in 4K), but the thing, and a lot, in the presentation.
For my part, I don’t have adequate equipment to do an in-depth review of image and sound quality, but one of the first things I did when I received it was to go straight to the seventh episode. Yes, the one with several scenes that looked so dark on stream that many criticized it harshly. And of course it’s still dark, but the action is perfectly followed, and that’s because a 4K edition will always look much better than on HBO Max, even though they promise an equivalent definition there. And it is that even with a normal Smart TV the difference is very noticeable. Having said that, Let’s move on to the specific details of this limited edition:
Design
The front of the steelbook has orange colors and uses dragons as the main visual attraction. Is an elegant and colorful design which also makes great use of both the front and the rear. Now let’s hope that Warner doesn’t leave us hanging with the side design, because, obviously, now it is necessary that the later seasons keep it, both the numbering at the top and the title of the series in the middle part.
For the inside of the steelbook, we have chosen a family image of the Targaryens at the beginning of the series. It’s not something we’re going to see often either, since the four discs are going to cover it up, but it’s always nice to add something in there instead of leaving it blank.
In addition, the steelbook goes inside a cardboard box that includes the surprise that both the dragons and the title appear in relief on the samewhich helps make it more than just a container, both so that the steelbook arrives better protected and to include a cardboard box with postcards of the characters that we will review later.
the extras
Here there is no other than to speak in terms of disappointment, mainly because for weeks there was talk of several deleted scenes that were not included in the episodes and then this edition does not include a single one of them. Audio commentaries are also missing in some of the episodes. It is true that later Warner never subtitles them, but it is still one of the juiciest extras.
What is included are various documentary pieces, all of them in high definition, but the vast majority of them have a fairly short duration and are much more focused on those viewers who have not yet seen the season than on viewers who want to delve a little deeper into some of its secrets. They are divided as follows:
- On disc 1 you will find seven short documentaries -the shortest, ‘A new reign’stays in just 3 minutes and 9 seconds, while the longest, ‘Welcome to Westeros’, does not exceed 5 minutes and 59 seconds – about the work to carry out the series, recreate the splendor of society at the time the series starts or the particularities of some of the noble houses. For my part, I would highlight the Illustrated Guide to what Westeros was like at that time and that is based on the statements of George RR Martin. I even wanted it to last longer, but how effective it was, not like the rest, where it always gave the feeling of being too superficial reviews of the topics they addressed.
- On disc 2 we have the largest additional content of this edition. ‘Return to the Seven Kingdoms’ (25:08) delves into the origins of the series a bit, even mentioning how Ryan Condal, co-creator and co-showrunner of the series, and George RR Martin met. There is also time to mention more specific details such as the, so to speak, small tribute that is paid to Cersei’s chambers in ‘Game of Thrones’ or a brief review of the filming of this first season in Spain and Portugal. Less interesting are the character introduction pieces. 15 minutes and 14 seconds in total dedicated to several of the protagonists. The absence of Olivia Cooke is surprising when, for example, they do remember Sonoya Mizuno, but the truth is that they do not contribute anything relevant to those of us who already know the series. They can be viewed separately or all of them in a row.
In addition, they include nine postcards, each of them dedicated to one of the main characters of this first season. It is true that it would have been a detail to also include the younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, but it is understandable that they have given priority to Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. In addition, the postcards are still a small curiosity that at most attacks an extra touch of exclusivity, since it is the only thing that is not included in the other editions. By the way, the back of all postcards is identical.
final notes
By presentation, This limited edition of ‘The House of the Dragon’ is a must for fans of the series who have not put aside the physical format and that they have made the leap to 4K. That is surely a limitation for some, but in return its price is quite reasonable -only 10 euros more than the normal version on blu-ray and 20 less than the other option in 4K-, something very appreciated taking into account the care that They have put it so that the collectors’ shelf looks very good.
I have some other problem with the content, not so much with the irreproachable audiovisual quality of the episodes -there will be those who perhaps regret that only the original version audio comes in Dolby Atmos, while the Spanish dubbing remains in Dolby Digital 5.1- as by the scarcity of additional content. I’m sure he wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to seeing those much-talked-about deleted scenes that seem to have been buried in the Warner archives. In addition, a more in-depth documentary would have also been nice instead of so many short featurettes that work more like a teaser for those who have not seen the series or any audio commentary.