'GOT' Season 7 DVD Comes Out In Time For The Holidays Because Christmas Is Coming

With Game of Thrones Season 7 now over, and the long wait for Season 8 commencing, there's only one question left for fans while we wait: When are the DVD and Blu-ray versions coming out, so we can clear off these episodes from the DVR? Turns out the wait isn't going to be that long after all. The episodes will be available for download before the end of the month, and the Game Of Thrones Season 7 DVD will be here before Christmas.

Once upon a time, the wait between episodes airing and DVD/Blu-ray release was a long one. The show would air from April-June, but HBO wouldn't release the DVD until February, or sometimes even March of the next year. (This is one of the reasons Game of Thrones piracy was so rampant for many years.)

In Season 5, as part of the work to combat pirates, the DVD and Blu-rays releases were moved back to pre-holiday dates, and digital downloads would come out at the beginning of September, only three months after the show's finale. Now they've closed the gap further. Season 7 ended on August 28th. Digital downloads will be available starting Sept. 25. The DVD and Blu-rays will debut Dec. 12, which just so happens to be the first night of Hanukkah.

As for the DVD and Blu-ray extras that will be included on this year's release, let's run them down. Both versions will bring you the following:

• Audio Commentaries. These are, by now, standard for all shows, and will include the usual observations from showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. Also name checked in the audio commentaries: Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne), and Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm).
• From Imagination to Reality: Inside the Art Department-Extensive. This is a two-part featurette focusing on production designer Deborah Riley and the creation of the new sets we saw this year, including Dragonstone, Casterly Rock, Highgarden, and the Dragonpit -- both in the early visit and for the Summit in the finale.
• Fire & Steel: Creating the Invasion of Westeros. This focuses on the major battle of Episode 4, and most likely contains both the YouTube videos that have been previously released on the behind-the-scenes making of.
• Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms. Probably the one book nerds like me will be looking forward to the most, Dave Hill pens this deep dive into the original Aegon Targaryen and his conquest of Westeros to gain the Iron Throne. Narrators include, in alphabetical order: Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger), Conleth Hill (Varys), Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen) and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark).

Yes, Harry Lloyd still comes back and does voice overs, six seasons after his character died. In fact, here's one of his segments:

As for the reason you'll want to shell out extra cash for the Blu-ray, along with the usual "in-episode" guides, they are the only way you get my favorite extra segments, the "History and Lore" videos. This year's Blu-ray will include seven animated shorts to help you learn your Westerosi history.

Some of the subjects include The History of the Dragonpit, Background on Highgarden, one called "Prophecies of the Known World" which is probably talking about The Prince That Was Promised (and maybe the Valoqar?), as well as the song "The Rains of Castamere." I am here for all of it.

The digital download also gets it's own extra this year, called "Creating the North and Beyond," which is the counterpart to the DVD release's Fire and Steel focus on the Episode 4 battle, in that it focuses on the other major conflict, the Battle Beyond the Wall that our magnificent seven are faced with in Episode 6.

Game of Thrones Season 7 DVDs and Blu-rays are available for purchase starting Dec. 12, 2017. Digital downloading begins Sept. 25, 2017. Season 8 will probably not show up until 2019.