Bigger, better Iron Throne

MANILA, Philippines – It turns out the Iron Throne envisioned by George R.R. Martin is much grander, more spectacular than the now-iconic “furniture” in his popular fantasy, “Game of Thrones.”

The Iron Throne has become a celebrity all its own, and also a pricey commodity at store.hbo.com. But Martin qualifies his praise for this production design feat.

In his livejournal, the “Game of Thrones” creator described the HBO throne as “iconic” and “a terrific design [that] has served the show well.”

But the throne Martin had in mind in writing his fantasy series “Song of Ice and Fire,” on which “Game of Thrones” is based, has nothing less than the scale of his huge imagination.

“This Iron Throne is massive. Ugly. Assymetric,” he wrote in his livejournal. “It’s a throne made by blacksmiths hammering together half-melted, broken, twisted swords, wrenched from the hands of dead men or yielded up by defeated foes…a symbol of conquest.”

 This formidable Marc Simonetti image is what Martin says he had in mind:

The “amazing” Simonetti, as Martin describes the famed digital artist, has piled up an impressive body of visual renditions of the world evoked by his pen.

“Marc has come closer here to capturing the Iron Throne as I picture it than any other artist to tackle it,” wrote Martin. “From now on, THIS will be the reference I give to every other artist tackling a throne room scene.”

Yet this set piece will be hard to realize. Martin himself pointed out that the “Iron Throne as I painted it” needed something like “the interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral or Westminster Abbey, and no set has that much room.”

Will the Iron Throne ever see its rightful king? Watch this short clip:

– Rappler.com