Map: What Would Game of Thrones Los Angeles look like?

What would Game of Thrones Los Angeles look like?
It might look a little bit like this.

This map originally appeared on the defunct UpOut.com. It was inspired by the brilliant Game of Thrones – San Francisco map created by Emma Gantz (illustrator on the icons) Kelly Anne Bonner, and Natalie Kelly. This map was designed by Tandra Nguyen using Gantz’s icons. The Los Angeles descriptions were written by Jesse Russell with assistance from UpOut intern Cameron Walsh.

Disagree? Of course, you do (please be gentle). This was a tough map to make because Los Angeles is such an amazingly diverse region with shifting personalities.

Click the map to enlarge.

King’s Landing – DTLA

In Game of Thrones, King’s Landing is the capital of the Seven Kingdoms and home to royalty, common folk, and everyone in between. It is the seat of power in the land, but it also has a rapidly growing poor population.

DTLA contains the Civic Center District which is the shared heart of both city and county governments. In addition, DTLA contains several federal and state buildings making it the obvious choice for King’s Landing. Much like the fictional capital, DTLA showcases a stark contrast between the city’s wealthy and poor.

The Eyrie – Griffith Observatory

High up in the mountains overlooking all of the surrounding lands is the castle of House Arryn. The day-long trek up to the castle can be exhausting since you have to climb up a mountain on carved-out steps.

Overlooking the City of Los Angeles and the surrounding land is Griffith Observatory. Although the hike isn’t nearly as long (less than a mile) or treacherous (you could do it barefoot) it does have a handful of “secret” staircases you can climb to the top.

The Vale – The Valley

The Vale is the area surrounded by the Mountains of the Moon leaving it mostly isolated from the rest of Westeros. In addition to the bannermen of the Vale of Arryn, the Vale has numerous independent clans like the mad Burned Men.

Protected on both sides by hills, the Valley is often considered isolated from the rest of Los Angeles. The land isn’t as fertile as it once was with the farmlands replaced by parking lots and chains. And, much like the Vale, in the Valley, you’ll find some of LA’s weirdest, madcap people.

Pyke – Terminal Island

Pyke is the main island of the Iron Islands, which cannot grow substantial amounts of food and have little resources. Because of this, for hundreds of years, the residents have raided the mainland for any goods. The people of the Iron Islands are hard and mean, but who wouldn’t be when your home is a cold, wet, and rocky island?

This artificial island would be a hard place to live if living on it was an option. The only people who do live on Terminal are residents of the Federal Correctional Institution.

Storm’s End – Santa Monica Pier

Storm’s End is the home of the Baratheons. This fortress is really, really strong, and its walls are protected by magic.

Santa Monica Pier is one of the most magical places in Los Angeles County.

Riverrun – Venice

Riverrun is technically the home of the Tullys, but it changed hands to the Freys. Then, the Blackfish took it back—and after that, Jaime Lannister took it back for the Freys. So Riverrun has changed hands a few times.

Venice started as an independent seasonal resort town before turning into an amusement pier. In 1926 it was annexed by Los Angeles. It briefly experienced life as an oil field before, in the 1950s, becoming a “Slum by the Sea.” In the late-70s through the 90s Venice was dominated by gangs. Now, with the presence of companies like Google, Venice is changing hands once again and becoming gentrified.

Highgarden – Bel Air

Highgarden is the home of House Tyrell, which is most well-known for its lush, fertile lands and amazing gardens.

Bel Air, featuring some of the most expensive homes in the region, manages to have the greenest yards and most bountiful gardens even when the rest of the state is yellow and dry from drought.

Winterfell – Hollywood

Let’s admit it, the Starks are the hipsters of Westeros. They’re so retro cool they still worship the old gods, they wear stylish winter coats year round, carry a constant air of existential dread, and love direwolves.

Studies show that the zip codes making up Hollywood have some of the highest concentration of dogs in Los Angeles. Much like the Starks, Hollywoodians love their dogs and the die hard Hollywoodians, well, that existential dread is a status symbol.

The North – Santa Clarita

The North is a cold, cold place. Not everyone is willing to live there, let alone even travel there. In many ways, it is a landlocked island from the rest of Westeros keeping the traditions of the old ways alive.

If you try to go any farther north in Los Angeles County you’ll end up in the wilds of the Los Padres National Forest.

The Dreadfort – Calabasas

The Dreadfort is home to the infamous Boltons and thus is a miserable place. If you are a captive of the Boltons, your chances of getting out of the Dreadfort are slim—they are known as the flayers, after all.

Calabasas is home to one of the infamous families in Los Angeles County, the Kardashians. As for the flayed man, Calabasas ranks second only to Beverley Hills when it comes to plastic surgery.

Sunspear/Dorne – West Hollywood/Melrose

Dorne and its capital, Sunspear, are mostly desert. The people of Dorne have very different traditions and ways from the rest of Westeros, since most of the inhabitants are descended from Rhoynar refugees. They are a very independent people, and they are very proud of their Dornish identity.

When someone wants a uniquely Los Angeleno experience they need not look much further than WeHo and Melrose. If you can score an apartment in the area it’s a point of pride and there are fewer better streets to wear your freak flag.

Casterly Rock – Mid-Wilshire

Casterly Rock is the home of the Lannisters, and it is a place that has become super wealthy from gold mines.

Mid-Wilshire’s home median value is well over $1 million and the local deposits break $2.5 billion. This is where the gold lives.

The Twins – The Stacks

The Twins are two towers that form the bridge over the Green Fork of the Trident River, connecting the North to the Riverlands. It is the only crossing of the Green Fork for miles, and avoiding the Twins means going many miles out of the way.

The Stacks are the heart of Los Angeles.

Beyond the Wall – Grapevine

North of the Wall is where the wildlings roam free from the rule of the Seven Kingdoms. It is colder than any place you have ever been, and the people are considered very rough and uncivilized by most in the Seven Kingdoms, but they’re in many ways the opposite. White Walkers aside, the wildings in many ways have it better than those on the other side of the wall.

The first stop on the other side of the Los Padres.

The Arbor – Malibu

The best wines in the Seven Kingdoms come from the Arbor, which is highly respected around the world. The Arbor is in a perfect location to grow grapes for wine.

Malibu (along with Ventura) is fast becoming the Napa of Southern California.

Kingsroad – The 101

The Kingsroad is the main highway connecting the Seven Kingdoms, running from King’s Landing in the south to Castle Black in the north.

The primary connection between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Braavos – Manhattan Beach

Braavos is often covered in fog. In fact, it is so foggy that its location was kept a secret for many years. It has grown to become one of the most powerful Free Cities in Essos. The Braavosi are notoriously kind and great lovers of song. They are well-known for creating a form of sword fighting called “the Water Dance.”

In spite of June Gloom (and whatever we call it the first couple of weeks of July), Manhattan is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Los Angeles. The regon is well-known for surfing which some might call a “Water Dance.”

Meereen – Silver Lake

Queen Daenerys rules her kingdom from the pyramids in Meereen. She has a lot of rebuilding to do after all of the damage the masters did to the city.

Much like Meereen, Silver Lake is a tale of a city dealing with an identity crisis. In one hand, you have the baby boomer leadership struggling to hang onto power and continue to fix things through the old ways. In the other hand, you have a rising creative class who want to disrupt what they see as an outdated model of governing.

The Dothraki Sea – Catalina Island Conservatory

The Dothraki Sea isn’t actually a body of water, but rather a sea of grass.

Fun fact: Catalina Island is home to more than a dozen species of grass. Of course, while the wild horses of Catalina were tamed decades ago, The Dothraki might appreciate seeing the island by renting a horse.

Qarth – Beverly Hills

Qarth calls itself “The Greatest City That Ever Was or Will Be” because of the great wealth it has gotten from being a major trade city. Its massive walls protect it from any unwelcome outsiders.

Much like Qarth, Beverly Hills has an overinflated opinion if itself because of the great wealth gained through celluloid. Many of the homes have massive gates that protect residents from unwelcome autograph hounds.

Harrenhal – Forest Lawn

Harrenhal is supposedly haunted because it was destroyed by dragons during Aegon’s conquest. It is a place no one has wanted, with the city of the dead residing in it.

The most famous cemetery in the United States. ’nuff said.

 

Icons by Emma Gantz
Layout and Castle Black Icon by Tandra Nguyen
Check out the San Francisco Game of Thrones Map
Game of Thrones descriptions by Natalie Kelly, Kelly Anne Bonner, and Jesse Russell
Los Angeles descriptions by Gil Padia and Jesse Russell