The Game of Thrones exhibit, which will only be in five cities around the world, was in New York City between March 28 and April 3. After seeing an ad for it in a newspaper and realizing that it was free, I decided on a whim to drop by after work.
The line was a block long with a roughly 3-hour wait. The line remained a block long even after the employees set up a barrier between those who were guaranteed entry before the exhibit closed for the day and those who were not. While it was a racially diverse group, most of the people waiting were in their 20s and 30s (though the age range representation was likely because of the time of the day).
The exhibit was organized into several sections. First, there was fan art (unless specified otherwise, all photos are from the Toronto exhibit, which was the same as New York’s):
The bulk of the exhibit were costumes and props, which were intricately crafted with a strong focus on detail. The costumes were mostly organized by house or location, including:
House Stark:
House Lannister:
House Baratheon (Crown and brooch only. Photo from WonderCon 2011):
The Wall:
Other notable costumes and props included:
- Weapons used by various characters, including Arya Stark’s practice sword, Ned Stark’s sword and shield, and Joffrey Lannister’s bow.
- Two of the three dragon eggs (the third egg was given to George R. R. Martin as a wedding gift).
- Daenerys Targaryen’s costumes from the first two seasons.
- A replica of Drogo, one of Daenerys’ dragons.
- Joffrey’s crown.
- Storyboards for the first two seasons.
There were still lines in the exhibit itself. One line was for the “Blackwater Bay Interactive Experience,” in which people were to shoot three arrows to set ships on fire. Archery skills were ranked from one to five stars. Those who got five stars were given a prize. However, some of us may or may not have been informed that “even cowards can serve on the Wall.”
The longer line and main attraction, however, was for people to have a picture taken of themselves sitting on the (fiberglass replica of the) Iron Throne; everyone who took a picture got a printed copy and could also e-mail it to themselves via one of the many iPads near the throne. In addition, there was a video advertising the Iron Throne sweepstakes outside the exhibit, which showed how the throne was made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZTWrSmyMl8
The video below summarizes the exhibit pretty well:
