Talk:Iron Throne (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Bayonet quotation
From wikiquote:Bayonet:
 * You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it.
 * Boris Yeltsin in televised speech (4 October 1993), as quoted in A Democracy of Despots (1995) by Donald Murray. p. 8
 * Variant translations: You can make a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
 * You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.

I had heard the quotation attributed to Napoleon, but Wikiquote gives the 1993 reference. I wonder if somebody has a reference for the quote being an inspiration for the throne. The ideas are similar. However, an Internet search didn't find a reliable link between them. Error (talk) 21:23, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

List of occupants
I have reverted the good faith addition by PolaroidEmperor of the following table, which I believe is the very definition of WP:Trivia and WP:Fancruft. I appreciate the addition of reliable, non-primary sources, but most of these names aren't even actual characters in any of the books. Interested fans can find this information (and more) at or ; these franchise-specific wikis have few restrictions on content as compared to Wikipedia's stricter guidelines. Thanks.— TAnthonyTalk 16:49, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

The occupants of the Iron Throne are titled King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men in A Song of Ice and Fire and King of the Andals and the First Men in Game of Thrones. Some differences exist in the exact lines of succession presented in the books and in the television show, such as the adaptation removing the king Jaehaerys II.
 * Fictional occupants

{{legend|#ffcccc|House Targaryen}}{{legend|#f0e68c|House Baratheon}}{{legend|#ff8c00|House Lannister}}{{legend|#d3d3d3|House Stark}}


 * First of all, I would like to apologize for not raising this at the talk page myself before adding it, which I absolutely should have. I know Wikipedia isn't a GoT wiki and that this info can be found easily elsewhere but my main idea was that the throne itself and who sits on it is one of the major aspects of the story of A Song of Ice and Fire and maybe moreso its adaptation Game of Thrones that it seems odd to not include it when lists of other fictional monarchs (most of them equally or more unsourced than this) are included despite things like the line of succession and whatever not being as important within their respective stories; see List of kings of Gondor, List of kings of Arnor, List of kings of Dale and List of kings of Rohan (all of which, except for Arnor which it seems you missed) have currently been nominated for deletion by TAnthony, and Galactic Empire (Isaac Asimov). I won't interfere with the article anymore, but I think there should be a consistent policy in place here. PolaroidEmperor (talk) 17:43, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Hey, thanks for commenting here. I realize I may have come off a bit blunt, so I'm sorry about that, I don't like to bite newer editors! But you did nothing wrong by boldly adding this list to the article. I don't agree that it belongs, and I removed it to retain wp:status quo, but I would obviously be fine with its inclusion if we get some consensus that it is appropriate. I would prefer a prose paragraph that summarizes Iron Throne-related plot and mentions notable rulers like Aegon I, Aerys II, and Robert Baratheon, who have more of a presence in the narrative. Yes, I may have gone a little crazy with the LOTR AfDs haha, but the discussions will hopefully prove me wrong, prove me right, or at least spark some improvement to the lists.— TAnthonyTalk 18:07, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
 * By the way, I encourage you to participate in the LOTR deletion discussions if you are so inclined. I'm fine being proven wrong in an active discussion.— TAnthonyTalk 18:12, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that we need an elaborate table but a list of the holders of the Iron throne seems reasonable. I have restored the content as it's easier to develop content in situ.  Andrew D. (talk) 18:31, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Like I said above, a paragraph discussing the more notable kings may be appropriate, but listing anecdotal fictional rulers is silly.— TAnthonyTalk 18:33, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Iron Throne predating George Martin?
I appreciate that this article title specifically says "Song of Ice and Fire." Kudos. I assumed it was an general archetype, a common concept ... but couldn't find such on the internet (GoT drowns out other discourse, lol.)

I'm looking because Mercedes Lackey's Iron Throne (https://valdemar.fandom.com/wiki/Iron_Throne) is also made of the weapons of conquered monarchs.- (And - ironically? - is 6ft x 4ft, more like the GoT tv throne vs. Martin's tall vision.) It was in a book published in 1994, seeming to predate Ice and Fire (1996).

My question is twofold: Ideas are free; when writers write, copyright only weighs in on the words they use, not the single point concept. So a question of copying doesn't enter into it. My only question is: Who Came First? :-D I figure some rabid wikipedian will have looked into this already, especially given the article title. Halp?
 * 1) is a weapon-based Iron Throne an archetype, appearing in history or other works before the 1990s? (A similar concept, the Skeletal throne, turns out not to be common either: EDIT I could only find one irl and the skull throne in Conan.)
 * 2) If not, did George release any kind of short story or concept before his book came out?

(p.s. before someone tells me to shove off with my fancruft, which sadly happens too often on wp, it's kind of relevant to this article because if it's earlier, it may or may not rate a mention in the article. But I wanted to discuss it first here on the Talk page. I hope someone can answer my factual question without lecturing me on whether it's relevant, which we can discuss AFTER someone with actual information answers. Thanks.) Tkech (talk) 01:09, 16 April 2024 (UTC)