Game of Thrones (season 3)
The third season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered in the United States on HBO on March 31, 2013, and concluded on June 9, 2013. It was broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm in the United States, consisting of 10 episodes, each running approximately 50–60 minutes. The season is based roughly on the first half of A Storm of Swords. The series is adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. HBO renewed the series for a third season on April 10, 2012, nine days after the second season's premiere. Production began in July 2012. The show was filmed primarily in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland and Morocco.
The story takes place in a fictional world, primarily upon a continent called Westeros, with one storyline occurring on another continent to the east, Essos. Like the novel, the season continues the storyline of The War of the Five Kings: after the death of Renly Baratheon, all four kings in Westeros believe they have a claim to the Iron Throne, besides Robb Stark, who seeks vengeance for the death of his father, Ned Stark, and independence for the North. The season also features other storylines: Daenerys Targaryen begins her rise in power in Essos; Ned's illegitimate son, Jon Snow, goes undercover beyond the Wall; the other Stark children struggle to survive up and down Westeros, but Robb is killed; Jaime Lannister returns to the capital; and all of Westeros is informed of the reawakened threat of the Army of the Dead.
Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast, including Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington. The season introduced a number of new cast members, including Diana Rigg, Ciarán Hinds, Nathalie Emmanuel and Iwan Rheon.
Critics praised the show's production values and cast. Viewership yet again rose compared to the previous season. It won 2 of the 16 Emmy Awards for which it was nominated; nominations included Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series. It also won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Series.
Episodes
Cast
Main cast
- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
- Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
- Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
- Kit Harington as Jon Snow
- Richard Madden as Robb Stark
- Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont
- Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark
- Aidan Gillen as Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish
- Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
- Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth
- Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon
- Carice van Houten as Melisandre
- Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
- John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
- Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
- Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
- Oona Chaplin as Talisa Stark
- Sibel Kekilli as Shae
- Rose Leslie as Ygritte
- James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont
- Jerome Flynn as Bronn
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
- Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark
- Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
- Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
- Joe Dempsie as Gendry
- Rory McCann as Sandor "The Hound" Clegane
- Conleth Hill as Varys
Guest cast
At and beyond the Wall
- Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon
- Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
- Josef Altin as Pypar
- Mark Stanley as Grenn
- Luke Barnes as Rast
- Burn Gorman as Karl Tanner
- Will O'Connell as Todder
- Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder
- Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
- Edward Dogliani as the Lord of Bones
- Ian Whyte as Dongo
- Mackenzie Crook as Orell Skinchanger
- Robert Pugh as Craster
- Hannah Murray as Gilly
- Ross Mullan as White Walkers
In King's Landing
- Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
- Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell
- Finn Jones as Loras Tyrell
- Ian Beattie as Meryn Trant
- Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
- Paul Bentley as the High Septon
- Will Tudor as Olyvar
- Esmé Bianco as Ros
- Josephine Gillan as Marei
- Pixie Le Knot as Kayla
On the Iron Islands
- Patrick Malahide as Balon Greyjoy
- Gemma Whelan as Yara Greyjoy
On Dragonstone
- Tara Fitzgerald as Selyse Florent
- Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon
- Lucian Msamati as Salladhor Saan
In the North
- Art Parkinson as Rickon Stark
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Jojen Reed
- Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed
- Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Snow
- Charlotte Hope as Myranda
- Kristian Nairn as Hodor
- Natalia Tena as Osha
In the Riverlands
- Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully
- Clive Russell as Brynden Tully
- David Bradley as Walder Frey
- Tom Brooke as Lame Lothar Frey
- Tim Plester as Black Walder Rivers
- Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton
- John Stahl as Rickard Karstark
- Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
- Dean-Charles Chapman as Martyn Lannister
- Timothy Gibbons as Willem Lannister
- Noah Taylor as Locke
- Jamie Michie as Steelshanks Walton
- Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion
- Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr
- Philip McGinley as Anguy
- Anton Lesser as Qyburn
- Ben Hawkey as Hot Pie
In Essos
- Dan Hildebrand as Kraznys mo Nakloz
- Clifford Barry as Greizhen mo Ullhor
- George Georgiou as Razdal mo Eraz
- Ian McElhinney as Barristan Selmy
- Ed Skrein as Daario Naharis
- Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
- Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
- Mark Killeen as Mero
- Ramon Tikaram as Prendahl na Ghezn
Production
Game of Thrones rapidly became a critical and commercial success after it started airing in April 2011. A few days after ratings for the second season's premiere, "The North Remembers", hit a series high of 8.3 million viewers, HBO announced the show's renewal for a third season. Prior to that announcement, there had been rumors and reports that showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss planned to shoot seasons three and four simultaneously. Benioff said that this would be very efficient, but impossible to write.The ten episodes of the third season are longer than the previous seasons', about 54 or 57 minutes as opposed to about 52. The season's budget was reported to be around 50 million U.S. dollars.
Writing
The third season is based on the first half of the novel A Storm of Swords. Benioff had previously said that A Storm of Swords would need to be adapted in two seasons on account of its length. Benioff and Weiss also noted that they thought of Game of Thrones as an adaptation of the series as a whole, rather than of individual novels, which gave them the liberty to move scenes back and forth across novels according to the requirements of the screen adaptation. According to Benioff, the third season contains a particularly memorable scene from A Storm of Swords, the prospect of filming which was part of their motivation to adapt the novels for television in the first place. The writing credits for the third season now state "Written for television by", instead of the usual "Written by" credit.Season 3 saw the first significant use of the Valyrian languages, spoken in doomed Valyria and its former colonies in Essos. The constructed languages were developed by linguist David J. Peterson based on the few words Martin invented for the novels. Peterson had previously developed the Dothraki language, used principally in season 1.
Casting
The third season adds previously recurring actors Oona Chaplin, Joe Dempsie and Rose Leslie to the series' main cast.After an absence of one season David Bradley returns as Walder Frey, Ian McElhinney as Barristan Selmy, Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon, Josef Altin as Pypar and Luke McEwan as Rast.
Crew
and D. B. Weiss serve as main writers and showrunners for the third season. They co-wrote seven out of ten episodes. The remaining three episodes were written by Bryan Cogman, Vanessa Taylor, and the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin.Daniel Minahan, Alex Graves, Michelle MacLaren, and David Nutter each directed two episodes. One further episode was directed by previous series cinematographer, Alik Sakharov, whereas another was co-directed by Benioff and Weiss, both making their directorial debuts, although only Benioff is credited for directing the episode.
Filming
The filming of the third season began in early July 2012, and concluded with the wrap of the unit filming in Iceland on November 24, 2012. Filming in Iceland, for scenes in five of the season's ten episodes, took place near Akureyri and Lake Mývatn. Dimmuborgir was used as the location for Mance Rayder's wildling army camp, and the Grjótagjá cave was used as establishing shot of Jon Snow and Ygrite in the cave although most of this scene was filmed in the studio. The filming in Iceland lasted eight days, as opposed to nearly a month for season 2. Kit Harington broke an ankle in an accident in July, which required the Iceland shoots to be pushed back to give him time to heal, as well as the occasional use of a body double.The production was again based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and continued to receive support from the Northern Ireland Screen fund. The production used various locations in Northern Ireland to film scenes in the North and the Riverlands. Gosford Castle in Armagh, was used as the base for Rivverun Castle, home of House Tully.
The production also returned to Dubrovnik in Croatia for scenes in King's Landing. Morocco, a new location, was used to film Daenerys' scenes in Essos such as the city of Astapor, for which locations in Essaouira were used. A scene involving a live bear was filmed in Los Angeles.
Music
The U.S. indie rock band The Hold Steady recorded "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", a ribald folk song from Martin's novels. The recording is played over the end credits of episode three, and the song is sung by Brienne and Jaime's captors in the same episode. Set to music by series composer Ramin Djawadi, the recording was released on a seven-inch record on Record Store Day, April 20, 2013.The soundtrack for the season was released digitally on June 4, 2013, and on CD on July 2, 2013.
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregator Metacritic has a score of 91 for season 3, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 25 reviews. While the season 3 finale was generally well received, IGN's Matt Fowler stated, "Season 3 may have stumbled slightly with its finale, but up until then it was thrilling and traumatic." Overall, he gave season 3 a 9/10 rating. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has a 96% approval rating from 45 critics with an average rating of 8.59 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Game of Thrones continues to deliver top quality drama for adults, raising the stakes even higher and leaving viewers hungry for more."Ratings
Accolades
For the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, the third season received 16 nominations, including for Outstanding Drama Series, Peter Dinklage for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Emilia Clarke for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Diana Rigg for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "The Rains of Castamere". That episode also won the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Game of Thrones won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama for the 29th TCA Awards, and also received a nomination for Program of the Year. For the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble, Peter Dinklage was nominated for Best Drama Actor, and the series won for Best Stunt Team.| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | |
| 2013 | AFI Awards | AFI TV Award | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | ASCAP Awards | Top Television Series | Ramin Djawadi | ||
| 2013 | EWwy Award | Best Supporting Actress, Drama | Natalie Dormer | ||
| 2013 | Artios Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Series Drama | Nina Gold | ||
| 2013 | Young Hollywood Awards | Actor of the Year | Kit Harington | ||
| 2013 | 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Drama Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau | ||
| 2013 | 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Emilia Clarke | ||
| 2013 | 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series | Diana Rigg | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Drama Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Peter Dinklage | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Emilia Clarke | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series | Gemma Jackson, Frank Walsh, and Tina Jones for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series | Nina Gold and Robert Sterne | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-camera Series | Rob McLachlan for "Mhysa" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Costumes for a Series | Michele Clapton, Alexander Fordham, and Chloe Aubry for "Walk of Punishment" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Diana Rigg for "And Now His Watch Is Ended" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series | Kevin Alexander, Candice Banks, Rosalia Culora, and Gary Machin for "Second Sons" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Interactive Program | Game of Thrones Season Three Enhanced Digital Experience | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series | Paul Engelen and Melissa Lackersteen for "Kissed by Fire" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Paul Engelen, Conor O'Sullivan, and Rob Trenton for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series | Oral Ottey for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series | Peter Brown, Kira Roessler, Tim Hands, Paul Aulicino, Stephen P. Robinson, Vanessa Lapato, Brett Voss, James Moriana, Jeffrey Wilhoit, and David Klotz for "And Now His Watch Is Ended" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series | Matthew Waters, Onnalee Blank, Ronan Hill, and Mervyn Moore for "And Now His Watch Is Ended" | ||
| 2013 | 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Special Visual Effects | Doug Campbell, Rainer Gombos, Juri Stanossek, Sven Martin, Steve Kullback, Jan Fiedler, Chris Stenner, Tobias Mannewitz, Thilo Ewers, and Adam Chazen for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2013 | Hollywood Post Alliance Awards | Outstanding Color Grading – Television | Joe Finley for "Kissed by Fire" | ||
| 2013 | Hollywood Post Alliance Awards | Outstanding Sound – Television | Paula Fairfield, Brad Katona, Jed Dodge, Onnalee Blank and Mathew Waters for "The Climb" | ||
| 2013 | Hollywood Post Alliance Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects – Television | Joe Bauer and Jabbar Raisani, Jörn Grosshans and Sven Martin, and Doug Campbell for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2013 | International Film Music Critics Association | Best Original Score for a Television Series | Ramin Djawadi | ||
| 2013 | 29th TCA Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Drama | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | 29th TCA Awards | Program of the Year | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Supporting Actor | Peter Dinklage | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Supporting Actor | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Supporting Actress | Emilia Clarke | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Supporting Actress | Michelle Fairley | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Guest Actress | Diana Rigg | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Best Drama Episode | "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2013 | Gold Derby TV Awards 2013 | Ensemble of the Year | The cast of Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | IGN Awards | Best TV Episode | The Rains of Castamere | ||
| 2013 | IGN Awards | Best TV Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | IGN Awards | Best TV Drama Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | IGN Awards | Best TV Villain | David Bradley as Walder Frey | ||
| 2013 | IGN Awards | Best TV Villain | Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon | ||
| 2013 | IGN People's Choice Awards | Best TV Episode | The Rains of Castamere | ||
| 2013 | IGN People's Choice Awards | Best TV Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | IGN People's Choice Awards | Best TV Drama Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2013 | IGN People's Choice Awards | Best TV Villain | David Bradley as Walder Frey | ||
| 2013 | IGN People's Choice Awards | Best TV Villain | Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon | ||
| 2013 | 18th Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau | ||
| 2013 | 18th Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Emilia Clarke | ||
| 2013 | 18th Satellite Awards | Best Television Series – Genre | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Premium Cable TV Show | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite TV Anti-Hero | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister | ||
| 2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | Emilia Clarke | ||
| 2014 | Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards | Best Period and/or Character Makeup – Television | Paul Engelen, Melissa Lackersteen | ||
| 2014 | American Cinema Editors | Best Edited One-Hour Series For Non-Commercial Television | Oral Norrie Ottey for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | ADG Excellence in Production Design Award | One-Hour Single Camera Television Series | Gemma Jackson for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2014 | American Society of Cinematographers | One-Hour Episodic Television Series | Jonathan Freeman for "Valar Dohaeris" | ||
| 2014 | American Society of Cinematographers | One-Hour Episodic Television Series | Anette Haellmigk "Kissed by Fire" | ||
| 2014 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Cinema Audio Society Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television Series – One Hour | Ronan Hill, Onnalee Blank, Mathew Waters, and Brett Voss for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | 11th Irish Film & Television Awards | Best Television Drama | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | 11th Irish Film & Television Awards | Actor in a Supporting Role – Television | Liam Cunningham | ||
| 2014 | 11th Irish Film & Television Awards | Actor in a Supporting Role – Television | Aidan Gillen | ||
| 2014 | 11th Irish Film & Television Awards | Actress in a Supporting Role – Television | Michelle Fairley | ||
| 2014 | 11th Irish Film & Television Awards | Best Sound | Ronan Hill | ||
| 2014 | Astra Awards | Favourite Program – International Drama | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Directors Guild of America Award | Dramatic Series | David Nutter for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Short Form Dialogue and ADR in Television | Jed Dodge and Tim Hands for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Short Form Music | David Klotz for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Short Form Sound Effects and Foley | Tim Kimmel for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form | David Benioff, David Nutter, and D. B. Weiss for "The Rains of Castamere" | ||
| 2014 | Kerrang! Awards | Best TV Show | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Location Managers Guild Awards | Outstanding Location Television Program | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Location Managers Guild Awards | Outstanding Achievement by a Location Professional – TV Program | Robert Boake | ||
| 2014 | Producers Guild Awards | "The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama" | David Benioff, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, Christopher Newman, Greg Spence, Carolyn Strauss, and D. B. Weiss | ||
| 2014 | Royal Television Society | International Program | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Saturn Award | Best Television Presentation | Game of Thrones | ||
| 2014 | Saturn Award | Best Performance by a Younger Actor on Television | Jack Gleeson | ||
| 2014 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actor on Television | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau | ||
| 2014 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress on Television | Gwendoline Christie | ||
| 2014 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress on Television | Michelle Fairley | ||
| 2014 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Peter Dinklage | ||
| 2014 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Alfie Allen, John Bradley, Oona Chaplin, Gwendoline Christie, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Mackenzie Crook, Charles Dance, Joe Dempsie, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Nathali Emmanuel, Michelle Fairley, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Kristofer Hivju, Paul Kaye, Sibel Kekilli, Rose Leslie, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Michael McElhatton, Ian McElhinney, Philip McGinley, Hannah Murray, Iwan Rheon, Sophie Turner, Carice Van Houten, Maisie Williams | ||
| 2014 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series | Rachelle Beinart, Richard Bradshaw, Ben Dimmock, Levan Doran, Jamie Edgell, Bradley Farmer, Jozsef Fodor, Dave Forman, Paul Herbert, Paul Howell, Daniel Naprous, Florian Robin, CC Smiff, Roy Taylor | ||
| 2014 | Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast | Philip Meyer, Ingo Schachner, Travis Nobles, Florian Friedmann for "Raising the Dragons" | ||
| 2014 | Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program | Kirk Brillon, Steve Gordon, Geoff Sayer, Winston Lee for "The Climb" | ||
| 2014 | Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program | Patrick Zentis, Mayur Patel, Nitin Singh, Tim Alexander for "The Climb" | ||
| 2014 | Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program | Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Jörn Großhans, Sven Martin for "Valar Dohaeris" |
Release
Broadcast
The day after the third season premiered in the U.S., it premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic, in Australia on Foxtel, and in New Zealand on SoHo.Home media
The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on, in region 2 on and in region 4 on.It was made available for purchase as a digital download on the iTunes store, in Australia only, in parallel to the U.S. premiere.
However, on May 14, 2013, Foxtel blocked the Australian iTunes store from making the episodes available soon after they screened in the U.S. Season 3 was reported to be the most infringed TV show via torrents during spring 2013, estimated to be 5.2 million downloads via BitTorrent.