What Did George R.R. Martin Want The Iron Throne To Look Like In GAME OF THRONES?

Tweet

RSSS

Tweet

You see HBO’s Iron Throne above. It’s one hell of a set piece. Heck, it’s almost a character in itself.

While that throne is menacing, the author of the Song of Ice and Fire series on which Game of Thrones is based had a much more terrifying throne in mind for the television adaptation. Here’s what George R.R. Martin wrote on his blog regarding the throne he envisions:

The HBO throne has become iconic. And well it might. It’s a terrific design, and it has served the show very well. There are replicas and paperweights of it in three different sizes. Everyone knows it. I love it. I have all those replicas right here, sitting on my shelves.

And yet, and yet… it’s still not right. It’s not the Iron Throne I see when I’m working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. It’s not the Iron Throne I want my readers to see. The way the throne is described in the books… HUGE, hulking, black and twisted, with the steep iron stairs in front, the high seat from which the king looks DOWN on everyone in the court… my throne is a hunched beast looming over the throne room, ugly and assymetric…

So what does GRRM have in mind. This:

According to GRRM:

That’s the Iron Throne as painted by the amazing Marc Simonetti (and if you haven’t gotten his 2013 Ice & Fire calendar, better hurry, the year’s half over) for the upcoming concordance, THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE. It’s a rough, not a final version, so what you see in the book will be more polished. But Marc has come closer here to capturing the Iron Throne as I picture it than any other artist to tackle it.

Budgets often result in limiting an artist’s vision, but for fans of the book (and probably Martin) the writers of the show did acknowledge that the HBO throne doesn’t match up with the legend. In Season 3, Episode 6, Petyr Baelish comments on the throne saying while it’s supposed to be made up of more than 1,000 swords, he counted them and there’s “just a little more than 200.” Well played, writers. Well played.

Source: GRRM