Winter is Coming

As you may or may not have known, the Game of Thrones exhibit returned this year. And this year, it came to London's O2 Arena. I was lucky enough to get tickets and, like last year, I'd like to share the experience.


I wasn't really sure what to expect this year. Having seen a lot of props and costumes last year in Belfast, sitting on the Iron Throne, and climbing the (virtual) Wall, what more was there to do? Sky took that questioned and answered it with 'interactive'. What does that entail, you may ask? Well...

The experience started off with entering what one member of staff called a 'mini exhibit', where you got given a lanyard with a code on the back. This enabled you to take part in having your picture taken against a green screen, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds. At this stage, you could also take part in a fake news story (which I didn't do) and sit on one of two Iron Thrones (which I did do, but I didn't put on a cape).

We actually managed to get in an hour before our allotted tour time, thanks to catching a really early train and then being incapable of wasting time. The first things we saw once we'd climbed all the stairs to the exhibit were Sansa's Alayne dress, Arya's costume, and some weapons. The detail in Sansa'a dress was incredible, and it was probably by favourite costume of all the ones there.

As well as costumes and props, this year the exhibit was a lot more interactive, and there were photo opportunities to be scorched by a dragon and be turned into a White Walker. Despite my love for all things dragons, I decided not to take part in either. I'm more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, and other people could watch as you had your picture taken which I didn't like. There were also some displays, such as the Mountain's sword and the White Walker model, that encouraged you to take part and take photos. I really liked this, as last time it felt a bit more formal and like you shouldn't do that. 

With season five coming in April there were a few items on show that I didn't recognise. The Mereenese mask and dragon collar were two of those, and I'm sure they're from the new season because I didn't recognise them! There were some costumes, like Margaery's purple wedding dress, that were shown last year as teasers for season four, and there were some classics, like the dragon eggs.

The ascend the wall experience was back again, too, and of course I took part in it again. I'll admit, I was worried about it this time - which was ridiculous, seeing as how I knew exactly what to expect and I hadn't suffered vertigo the last time. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed it again and I hope if they bring the exhibit back again they'll come up with some other 4D experiences.

At the end of it, we had to stop off at the HBO pop-up shop. There were quite a few things there I liked, such as the house coasters and the poster for the exhibit, but in the end I stuck with what I know. I came away with the Hand of the King pin to match my bookmark, and Jon Snow and Sansa funko figures to help complete my Stark collection.

Overall, it was a great day out to London, and I really do hope they bring it back again to promote season six. Because there's definitely going to be a season six.