海角大神

Giant dragons, three-eyed crows, and conversations peppered with 鈥淜haleesi鈥� descended upon New York this week as fans of HBO鈥檚 smash hit series 鈥�Game of Thrones鈥� geared up for its Season Four premiere on April 6.

On Thursday, the first day of spring, 7,000 devotees of the book and television series set in the mythical land of Westeros were thinking more of the swords-and-dragons-saga鈥檚 dread-inducing leitmotif: 鈥淲inter is coming.鈥�

They thronged to Brooklyn鈥檚 Barclays Center to get a sneak preview of the much-anticipated new season of the drama, in which family clans battle in a treacherous win-or-die struggle for control of the Iron Throne 鈥� even as zombie-like white walkers threaten to descend from a northern winterland and overrun the unsuspecting realm.

Scalpers had been asking for $15 tickets to the event, which featured costumes and props from the show鈥檚 traveling exhibition as well as an unadvertised appearance by four cast members 鈥� and by series author and creator George R.R. Martin 鈥� who all gave a brief Q&A before the sneak preview.

The Barclays Center event followed Tuesday鈥檚 official red-carpet Game of Thrones premiere at the Lincoln Center, where a crouched menacingly in front of the famed Metropolitan Opera.

Harumphing patrons of the opera house, startled by the dragon, had to be told,

In fact, it鈥檚 a TV show that drew an average of to HBO last year, up from 13.6 million in Season Two, making it the second-most-watched series in the cable network鈥檚 history after the 2004 season of 鈥淭he Sopranos.鈥� Game of Thrones鈥� fourth season is widely expected to eclipse even that earlier HBO drama about a New Jersey mob family, which many say revolutionized the medium of TV.

At the Barclays Center fans donned costumes of their favorite characters, the most popular appearing to be Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke), the white-haired 鈥淜haleesi鈥� queen and the 鈥淢other of Dragons.鈥� Her loyal serpents were only snarling adolescents at the end of Season Three, and fans are anticipating their full fire-spewing power as the new season begins a week from this Sunday.

鈥淥ut of a lot of shows and movies, there is a lot more in the way of complex character-building," Nadine Fentner, 23, a Queens resident and Khalessi fan, . 鈥淵ou can't say a lot of them are totally bad or totally good.鈥�

The buzz in the Brooklyn stadium, home of the NBA鈥檚 Nets, surprised many of the actors who attended the Thursday sneak preview.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect it,鈥� said Kristian Nairn, the nearly 7-foot-tall actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who plays a feeble-minded giant named Hodor. 鈥淵ou feel all the love and it鈥檚 just 鈥� it gets me quite emotional,鈥� .

Fans also stood in line to have their photo taken on the show鈥檚 defining Iron Throne, a majestic seat made from a thousand swords of vanquished foes and forged with dragon breath.

Event organizers gave one of the replicas away in a random drawing before the start of the premier. Mike Ross, a 37-year-old resident of Hoboken, N.J., was selected to receive the 350-pound hand-finished fiberglass chair. 鈥淚 have no idea where I'm going to put it," he told Reuters. "We'll make a little room for it.鈥�

The creator of the show, Mr. Martin, 65, whose five fantasy novels provide the basis for the TV series, was supposed to play a cameo role in Season Four.

鈥淭he cameo we had planned would鈥檝e involved me going to Croatia,鈥� , 鈥渁nd I just couldn鈥檛 find the time between all my other trips and my speaking engagements and the work I had to do to take off time to fly to Croatia.鈥�

He is also currently writing a highly-anticipated sixth book for the series, titled 鈥淭he Winds of Winter.鈥�

But even Martin was stunned by the raucous standing ovation he received when he walked out onto the Barclays Center stage.

鈥淵ou feel like Bruce Springsteen for a few minutes,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou walk out and they roar.鈥�