Game of Thrones theory

[invokethehojo]

It's been a few years since I read the Song of Ice and Fire books 1-4, but one thing I always thought was weird was that they kept alluding to the fact that summer lasted for a generation or longer, and when winter came it could go on for years. I found it odd that after 4 books they didn't touch on this more, especially since I think one of the starks might have said "winter is coming" oh, i don't know, once or twice.

I just watched the intro to episode two, and by the way I love the style, and how they use the intro to show not only the world, but the parts that matter in that episode. What I found odd was that it kept showing something like a sun, a ball of fire, with metal rings floating around it. Then, when it showed the world, as the camera moved you could tell the surface was concave. Could they maybe be telling us something, that the world of this series is inside out, with the sun at the center and the shell of the planet surrounds it at distance. As if the sun were the nucleus and the worlds surface functioned as the elecrons. This was similar to one of the worlds in the 'deathgate cylce' books by margret weis and tracy hickman. If so maybe this has something to do with the whole long summer and winter thing.

Just an idea. Any thoughts?

 

[Cor Azer]

Certainly a thought, but it seems too science fiction for a series more so going with subtle magic.

I wouldn't put too much stock in it; I suspect the opening credits were more to give a sense of "game" as opposed to a plot hint.

 

[jonesy]

It's pretty much what came to my mind too when I realized how they were showing it. But whether it has any meaning depends on how much Martin was consulted in the matter. It might be just an artistic thing.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7L2PVdrb_8"]Game of Thrones Episode 1 Opening - YouTube[/ame]

But then again, imagine getting spoilers for the books from the tv series.

 

[El Mahdi]

I think it's just supposed to look like a spherical astrolabe or armillary - just to give it a borderline medieval/renaissance feel or appearance. I think the concave appearance of the map/continent is just a byproduct of attempting to show the entire continent and each city in perspective with eachother. I don't think it's meant to imply that the world is concave. I think it's just meant as a cool/artsy video version of the map at the beginning of the books - and placed at the beginning of the show for the same purpose that the map is at the beginning of the books.

Also, I don't think that the long seasons are supposed to be inherently magical. I think the people of the world see them as magical, same as Dragons and White Walkers, but I think Martin has some very unmagical reasons in the (untold) backstory as to why this happens (such as the world having a very different orbit from ours with a differently structured solar system; and white walkers actually being some kind of alien race that can only live in the cold, etc.). The people of the world have decidedly real superstitions and beliefs in magic and the supernatural, but Martin writes the world as rather objectively un-magical.

It would be cool though, if it was in some kind of "hollow world" type setting. But, then you'd have to explain how there's night and day, and stars at night.

 

[Rhun]

They certainly make it look like it is a Dyson Shell. But then all winter would have to be explained as magic, since all of the surface area would receive the exact same amount of output from the star. I would guess it is an artistic thing as well.

 

[mac1504]

World inside a sphere

Here's a really interesting interview with the artist that created the opening credits:

Secrets Behind 'Game of Thrones' Opening Credits (Video) - Hollywood Reporter

 

[invokethehojo]

Also, I don't think that the long seasons are supposed to be inherently magical. I think the people of the world see them as magical, same as Dragons and White Walkers, but I think Martin has some very unmagical reasons in the (untold) backstory as to why this happens (such as the world having a very different orbit from ours with a differently structured solar system; and white walkers actually being some kind of alien race that can only live in the cold, etc.).

Ya it does seem like that. What I find very strange is that it seems like when summer and winter happen and their durations are not predictable. I'm having a hard time imagining how a culture that seems confident saying "the wall has protected us for 8000 years" doesn't have an accurate almanac. Unless the seasons really are random, which would seem to be unnatrural. But who knows

They certainly make it look like it is a Dyson Shell. But then all winter would have to be explained as magic, since all of the surface area would receive the exact same amount of output from the star. I would guess it is an artistic thing as well.

I don't know what a dyson shell is, but my thought is that if the world were hollow around a sun, it might be shaped like a football, so some parts are further from the sun. Or maybe the sun isn't stuck in the center, but moves, or waxes and wanes, which might explain the randomness of the seasons.

I in no way think I've got the show figured out, I just enjoy making up little theories like this, it's what makes me like these kinds of shows. My wierd theory for lost from the beginning was that if you could understand the large asian themed tatoo on jacks left arm you would know the basic plot of the entire show.

 

[Rhun]

I don't know what a dyson shell is

A dyson shell is exactly what you were thinking...it is like a hollow sphere around a sun, and people would conceivably live on the inside of the hollow sphere. Of course, another side to this would be that there would be no night, unless there were satellites orbiting closer to the sun that would block out its light.

, but my thought is that if the world were hollow around a sun, it might be shaped like a football, so some parts are further from the sun. Or maybe the sun isn't stuck in the center, but moves, or waxes and wanes, which might explain the randomness of the seasons.

Good thoughts. I'm not sure it would work from a "laws of science" perspective, but it is fantasy, and with magic anything is possible.

 

[El Mahdi]

I don't know what a dyson shell is...

Then for your viewing pleasure: Wikipedia:_Dyson_Sphere, Memory-Alpha:_Dyson_Sphere.

It was also featured in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode (the episode is also noted for having Scotty/James Doohan, from the Original Series): Relics.

Even if there were some sort of satellite within the sphere that could generate a day/night cycle (by passing between an observer and the central sun), there still wouldn't be any stars at night. The world of the Game of Thrones has a normal nightime sky, complete with stars and constellations. Also, the sun wouldn't "travel" across the sky from east to west (or travel at all, in any direction). It would always appear to any observer at any point within the sphere, as if the sun was always at 12'noon, with transition from day to night appearing as some kind of eclipse (assuming there was a satellite). There also wouldn't be any temperature/environmental difference between regions, like a cold North and a warm South (which Westeros does have).

The most likely conclusion is that Westeros is on a world orbiting a single sun, but is either in a much longer orbital period with a much more eliptical orbit than ours, or the star runs through some kind of cycle where it's output decreases periodically.

 

[Moleculo]

On the Westeros wiki, it says:

George R. R. Martin explicitly and more than once stated that the explanation of the Planet's climate will be revealed at the end of the series, so he cannot disclose any further details on the issue before that point. He also stated that the explanation will be magical in nature and will not involve any sci-fi elements.