April 17 marks ten years since you borrowed someone’s HBO credentials (and / or logged in to some unscrupulous website) to watch the first episode of Game of Thrones, making her a full decade since the happy Stark children managed to love a cuddly wolf puppy, a decade since Sansa spotted the adorable Joffrey Baratheon, and a decade since Jaime Lannister affectionately considered the things he does for love. To celebrate the occasion and possibly to remind viewers that there was once Game of Thrones was almost universally praised, HBO has announced a one-month event called The Iron Anniversary that will include lots of HBO Max stuff, a “MaraThrone” on HBO (it’s a “marathon” play) and some sort of special gift award for people “who got married in Westeros themed ceremonies.” Finally, a Game of Thrones the wedding will result in something other than a knife in the gut and confusing questions from your relatives (“Isn’t this the show about incest?” No, Nana, it’s the show where a teenager is sold to a lord of barbarian war and then gives birth to dragons, and also yes, there is incest.)
The HBO Max stuff will bring something new Game of Thrones “Featured Page” with collections of curated episodes, Easter egg guides and lots of behind-the-scenes videos and interviews, and there will be some sort of solidarity challenge that consists of watching the whole season. It looks like the episode collections will be based on viewing episodes in a different order, as if you just want to see Daenerys story or just like the great battle scenes. Meanwhile, the MaraThrone will begin on HBO2 on April 10 and will go through all episodes of the series.
Below you can see a teaser for the Iron Anniversary event (but it’s really just a featured 40-second reel for the show).
[via Deadline]