Winter can't come fast enough for 'Game of Thrones' fans who are itching to see Season 2. While they wait in anticipation, they'll soon be able to re-watch Season 1 at their leisure. The DVD and Blu-ray versions -- complete with a host of goodies -- will be in stores March 6.

According to 'Entertainment Weekly,' the sets are really, really good: "HBO has pulled out all the stops. Based on the two disks I previewed, 'Thrones' was given a lavish presentation. The sophisticated menu navigation and behind-the-scenes extras that are on par with DVD sets from hit movies rather than what fans typically receive for TV shows."

After the jump watch a new sneak peek of Arya Stark's "rough and tumble" new look for Season 2 and check out the DVD/Blu-ray extras.

Nothing is certain except death and taxes, as the old saying goes. So there is a chance that 'Game of Thrones' won't run for years on HBO. But based on what the network's executives said Thursday to the media at the Television Critics Association press tour, 'GoT' fans shouldn't be too worried about the show having a short life span.

HBO executive Richard Plepler put it plainly: "We told George we would go as long as he kept writing."

George is George R.R. Martin, the author of the books on which the TV show is based. After the remarks from Plepler and fellow HBO executive Michael Lombardo below, I've got a long excerpt from an interview I did with Martin at Comic-Con last week. But first, there's more on what the executives said about 'Game of Thrones' future at TCA press tour.

The executives' positive statements are good news for fans of 'Game of Thrones,' but at the Thursday HBO session, critic Ellen Gray raised the specter of 'Deadwood,' a period piece with a fervent following that ended in a sudden and mystifying way well before fans (and possibly even creator David Milch) were ready to let it go.

['Game of Thrones' - 'Fire and Blood']

Given that the 'Game of Thrones' season finale began by showing us several characters reacting to last week's major death, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this week's discussion with one reader's reaction to the heartstopping scene we witnessed seven days ago.

Here's an excerpt from what KLM19001 had to say in the comment area of last week's post:

"It's such a waste of my time to watch [someone] commit spiritual and physical suicide to have nothing come from it.