. (Photo : .)
"Game of Thrones" season 6 episode 1 aired on April 24, and one of the first things that viewers saw was a camera moving across a map of Westeros, which is the imaginary continent where the story began. However, reputable cartographer Jonathan Roberts revealed that sometimes the show strays from the book.
The Scottish native illustrator was charged with the responsibility of creating the official maps of the universe described in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series titled "A Song of Ice and Fire," on which "Game of Thrones" is based. Quartz spoke with the cartographer who teased on some important aspects associated with the show.
When asked on how he got involved into mapping, Roberts said that he grew up playing "Dungeons and Dragons," something that gave him a passion to venture into cartography. The illustrator added that one day, people at Random House approached him and said Martin loved his work and commissioned him to do "The Land of Ice and Fire," a collection of official maps published in 2012.
Speaking to Quartz, Roberts asserted that there are continuity errors for the world whenever he watches "Game of Thrones." While the cartographer identifies fewer inconsistencies, it is likely that there are more errors in the show. The man behind "The Land of Ice and Fire" maps teased that HBO's "Game of Throne has clearly and explicitly moved away from the canon of the books in very specific ways.
Roberts said, "[There was a scene of] Danaerys with her army, marching to capture another slave city. The army is marching along the coast, and as they march along the coast, the sea is to their right. And I was like, that is impossible. They are going the wrong way! They should be marching in the opposite direction. It irrationally infuriates me."
Defining the boundaries of a fantasy world requires great imagination and practical knowledge of geography and physics. Robbie Powell, the founder of the Cartographers Guild online community, said via his official website said that human work has much suspense of disbelief that can be accomplished. Focusing on some level of reality is critical in allowing the more fantastic elements of things to thrive.
Watch the footage below to have a glimpse of what happened in "Game of Thrones" Season 6 premiere.
