An armor master explains how HBO’s popular series Game of Thrones got one major detail wrong about its weapons, and it completely breaks the show.
Though the popular HBO show strived to create a believable medieval world, a weapons master calls out that Game of Thrones got one detail very wrong. Set in a fantasy world in which characters fight with swords, bows, and even dragons, Game of Thrones is filled with constant battles. With nearly every character carrying swords or other weapons, they are an essential part of the show for the character’s survival and are often the stars of any scene. The reforging of Ned Stark’s sword in season 4 is a crucial element of Lannister’s rise to power.
The reforging in Game of Thrones was not quite as accurate as it appeared, however. Speaking with Insider, medieval arms and armor expert Toby Capwell explained that the process depicted in the show would have completely destroyed Ned’s sword. Had the sword been reforged in real life the way that it was in the show, it would have grown incredibly brittle. Instead of providing two Valyrian steel swords for Jaime and Joffrey, Tywin would have been left with swords that would have broken at the first taste of battle. The inaccuracy earned a complete 0/10 rating from Capwell. Check out his explanation below:
“No, can’t do that. That’s not how you take a sword about, sorry. This whole idea of melting a sword blade down and then recasting it in a mold — which is what they’re doing — you can’t do that. If you reduce the iron or the steel to its liquid state, you lose all of the properties that you want. If you melt and cast iron in a mold, it’s cast iron, and it becomes really brittle, and you can’t temper it, and you can’t heat treat it. You know, when you have a lump of iron ore, yes, they heat the iron ore to separate the iron from all of the silicates and all of the rest of the stuff that it’s mixed up with. You never fully melt it.
You don’t fully heat it to the full melting point. You heat it up until the chemical reaction occurs in the ore, which separates the iron from all of the junk. It sort of gloops down into the bottom of the bloomers. Weaponsmiths are very very careful to never fully melt anything. You cannot melt armor down to make new armor. I don’t care if it looks good on screen. It’s dumb. I like some of the things that Game of Thrones does with armor, but that’s a fail. That’s a zero.”
Game Of Thrones Was Not Always Accurate
The process of reforging swords was not the only detail that Game of Thrones failed to take into account throughout its run. The show and the A Song of Ice and Fire book series alike are both based on the historical period of the War of the Roses, and the show’s overall plot and direction reflect that period well. Details, however, often escape the series as the battle strategies and reforging inaccuracies become evident.
The Battle of Winterfell, for instance, has numerous inaccuracies. Shallow trenches meant that the dead could easily wade over the barriers, while artillery placed in front of Winterfell’s walls meant that the infantry could not defend their own trebuchets. The Dothraki charge also failed to involve sound military tactics, as they had absolutely no support or reserves to defend them. Game of Thrones season 8 suffered for these incorrect elements, as it removed any hope of believability in the final season.
Shows that borrow heavily from medieval periods are never entirely accurate. Complete historical accuracy would restrict the plot and force characters to spend far too much time toiling over maps and planning logistics. While Game of Thrones did occasionally skew believability, the vast majority of the audience will never actually know the truth about the reforging of swords, so it does not diminish the series. Ice melting did not completely change the story any more than an accurate reforging would. As much as Game of Thrones failed to consider the correct forging techniques, the show hardly suffered for it.
