ffmpeg -i original_s03e04.mkv -map 0:s:m:forced? -c copy forced_subtitles.ass

ffmpeg -i input_s03e10.mkv \ -c:v hevc_nvenc -preset p7 -tune hq -rc vbr -cq 22 -b:v 0 \ -c:a libopus -b:a 128k \ output_mhysa.mkv

ffmpeg -i input_s03e07.mkv \ -c:v libaom-av1 -crf 30 -b:v 0 -strict experimental -cpu-used 4 \ -c:a libopus -b:a 96k \ output_bear_and_maiden_fair.mkv Season 03 has extensive subtitled dialogue (Kraznys mo Nakloz in Astapor). When remuxing, never burn these in —retain them as soft subtitles.

For fans of Game of Thrones , Season 03 is a watershed moment—from the burning of Astapor to the blood-soaked Rains of Castamere at the Red Wedding. For a media archivist, however, this season presents a unique set of technical challenges. The original broadcasts contained notorious crushed blacks (specifically in the Dothraki sea and the dark cave of the Lord of Light) and a mix of framerate sources.

Always keep a -c copy backup of the original untouched audio track. The 5.1 mix of Ramin Djawadi’s "The Lannister Send Their Regards" deserves lossless preservation.

Run this probe:

#!/bin/bash for i in {1..10}; do episode=$(printf "S03E%02d" $i) ffmpeg -i "Game.of.Thrones.${episode}.mkv" \ -vf "yadif=1, eq=brightness=0.03:contrast=1.05" \ -c:v libx264 -crf 19 -preset veryslow \ -c:a flac -compression_level 8 \ -c:s copy \ "GoT.${episode}.Archival.mkv" done Processing Game of Thrones Season 03 with ffmpeg is an exercise in respect for the source material—preserving the grim darkness of the North while correcting broadcast errors. The commands above will give you a consistent, playable, and future-proof library. Winter (and re-encoding) is coming.

ffmpeg -i video_fixed.mkv -i original.mkv \ -map 0:v -map 0:a -map 1:s:0 -map 1:s:1 \ -c copy \ final_s03_complete.mkv Process all 10 episodes with consistent settings: