Anyone that has seen even one episode of Game of Thornes is aware that the show features a massive, purposely uncomfortable throne — the Iron Throne, to be exact — whereupon the King of Westeros (currently, the easy-to-hate Joffrey) sits. Uncomfortably. But how close is HBO's version of the throne to that of the one that lives in the imagination of Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin? The answer, unsurprisingly, is close but not quite right.
It's hardly the first time a film or TV adaptation has failed to live up to the imagination of the source material's author, but apparently, artist Marc Simonetti has created a more accurate depiction of the Iron Throne in 2013 Ice & Fire calendar, and Martin revealed it in his blog. The photo above is the real Iron Throne, as close to Martin's imagination as anyone has come. Forged by Aegon, the first of the Targaryen Kings, the Iron Throne, as conceived by HBO's Art Department is a fair effort by Martin's own assessment, and a sensible one when it comes to having to use for television production. "The HBO throne has become iconic," Martin stated on his personal blog (via io9). "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, "it's still not right," according to Martin. "It's not the Iron Throne I want my readers to see," the author continued. "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..."
But not exactly practical for producing television. Martin admits: " We have a huge throne room set in Belfast, but not nearly huge enough to hold the Iron Throne as I painted it. For that we'd need something much bigger, more like the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey, and no set has that much room."
Here's the throne as it appears in the series:
As Season 4 of Game of Thrones is not due until spring of 2014, perhaps seeing the real throne will help assuage fans as they try to pass the seemingly interminable amount of time between seasons. The show will make an appearance at Comic-Con later this month, and you can always just re-watch the third season on DVD and Blu-Ray in the interim. Wait, that also won't be available until 2014 as well.
