David Farnor | On 15, Mar 2016

As the old saying goes, winter is coming, better build a giant chocolate egg.

That’s the philosophy HBO were following last weekend, as it teamed up with London chocolatiers MELT to create a massive dragon egg – a mouth-watering way to celebrate both the arrival of Easter and Game of Thrones Season 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

Don’t miss the ultimate #GameOfThrones chocolate dragon egg this Saturday @Selfridges with @meltchocolates! pic.twitter.com/4fKkTY4KaX

— HBO (@HBO_UK) March 7, 2016

Weighing 15kg and stretching over 50cm tall, the dragon egg is intricately design and entirely made by hand by MELT’s skilled team.

It took over 25 hours to create and, because it’s all made out of chocolate, is completely edible.

The egg was unveiled at Selfridges on Saturday, after being assembled scale by chocolate scale in full public view. It was then on display for the whole weekend.

Feast your eyes on the ULTIMATE dragon egg @Selfridges today to celebrate #GameOfThrones S5 on DVD & Blu-ray Monday. pic.twitter.com/TW0t1SoTcu

— HBO (@HBO_UK) March 12, 2016

The egg is a suitably extravagant gesture to welcome Game of Thrones onto DVD and Blu-ray: Season 5 won 12 Emmy Awards (the most of any series in one year) and is a Guinness World Record holder for the largest simultaneous broadcast of a TV drama (in 173 countries and territories worldwide).

The fifth run of the show begins with a power vacuum that people across Westeros and Essos look to fill. At Castle Black, Jon Snow struggles to balance the demands of the Night’s Watch with those of newly-arrived Stannis Baratheon, who styles himself the rightful king of Westeros. Meanwhile, Cersei scrabbles to hold on to power in King’s Landing amidst the Tyrells and the rise of a religious group led by the enigmatic High Sparrow, while Jaime embarks on a secret mission. Across the Narrow Sea, Arya seeks an old friend while a fugitive Tyrion finds a new cause. And as danger mounts in Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen finds that her tenuous hold on the city requires some hard sacrifices.

The Blu-ray set features all 10 episodes, plus exclusive bonus content including a brand new feature that takes an in-depth look at the story behind the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of Dragons. Other extras include an in-episode guide to background information about on-screen characters, locations, and relevant histories, plus featurettes that explain the mythology of Westeros and Essos, as told from the varying perspectives of the characters themselves.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the episode Mother’s Mercy is included on the DVD box set, as well as the Blu-rays, alongside The Real History Behind Game of Thrones, which sees historians, along with George R.R. Martin, explore the interweaving inspirations of the actual players in The War of the Roses and other historical events. Each episode also comes with audio commentaries with cast and crew, including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Kit Harington, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maisie Williams.

While some may baulk at the price of the box set, though, this week also marks the release of Game of Thrones’ Season 5 on Sky On Demand and NOW. The contract-free VOD service, powered by Sky, gives subscribers streaming access to Sky channels such as FOX (The Walking Dead) and Sky 1 (Arrow, The Flash) for £6.99 a month. That fee also includes Sky Atlantic, which means that you can watch Game of Thrones both live and on-demand when it returns for Season 6 in April.

Need a refresh before Game of Thrones returns? See our guide to where you can watch Game of Thrones online.

Photo: HBO

Add to Watchlist