Armour of Game of Thrones (TV show)

[Vympel]

Frey man:



These Freys Are Cursed.

A better look at some men of House Frey:



And some unknown knights on the Street of Steel in King's Landing:

[Vympel]

Jumping the gun on Season 4, but still:

Jaime's new Kingsguard armor:



Compare:



You can see what can only be Oathkeeper at Jaime's side in the Season 4 shot, too.

[Thanas]

Why did they replace the crown with the sword?

[LaCroix]

I think it's about abolishing Targaryen symbols - the sword is embraced by stag antlers...

[Ahriman238]

Accepting that it's been a while, I seem to recall in the books the Kingsguard wore pure white, unadorned yet clearly expensive armor, as a symbol of their renunciation of their families to serve the king. With the exception of Jaime who thumbs his nose at the tradition and wears Lannister colors proudly.



That said, I haven't had a problem with the armor as shown in the show. I suspect the swords and antlers are part of some effort on Joffery's part to rebrand himself as a martial hero.

[Vympel]

Why did they replace the crown with the sword?

Might be a story behind it in Season 4. New armor for Jaime courtesy of Daddy Dearest, same as Oathkeeper.

[Vympel]

Two new entries:

Officially, its the new Kingsguard armor - probably to cement Joffrey's reign:



Brienne's swank new armor, inspired by her old suit:

[Elheru Aran]

Brienne's armour has some Indian or Japanese elements to it, specially on the arms-- small plates connected by mail. I cannot say I am terribly impressed, her older one with the plate arms was more protective.

[Thanas]

Those are not small plates connected by mail, these are small plates on top of mail for added protection.

And Japanese Kote are pretty much identical to vambraces anyway.

[LaCroix]

I actually like her armor, especially the 'it looks like leather' finish.

[Thanas]

I think I have seen the real life version of her shoulder guards before. Maybe in the Rüstkammer in Vienna or in Dresden. They look exactly like them.

[LaCroix]

I think I have seen the real life version of her shoulder guards before. Maybe in the Rüstkammer in Vienna or in Dresden. They look exactly like them.

Do you mean this one? The cuirass of Melchiore Michieli (1489–1572)

[Thanas]

Nah, shape does not match. I am talking about the exact same shapes on the overlapping plates.

[Vympel]

Season 1 flashback:

Random soldiers of unnamed Riverlands houses:



Soldier of House Whent:



Man of House Bracken:



Season 4:

Knight of the Gate:



Soldiers of the Vale:



And another:

[Vympel]

Oberyn Martell:



Gregor Clegane:



Bonus:

[Patroklos]

In the books there is a lot of talk of enameled armor, one specific example being the kings guard which is how they get their plate to be all white. Another would be Tywin which is said to have his breast plate at least enameled crimson. Is this a real thing? I would think whole sets of armor being enameled would add a lot of weight though perhaps would be helpful against corrosion (simlar to how we powder coat things today). The process also seems like it would harm any armor that has been specifically tempered a certain way.

[Spoonist]

Is this a real thing?

Yes.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dect/hd_dect.htm

Enamel
Enameling refers to several techniques that use vitreous paste fused to a metallic background. Recesses on a metal object, either cells formed by soldering wire to the base (cloisonné) or simple cuts or grooves (champlevé), are filled with colored glass paste. The object is then fired so that the powdered paste will melt and bond with the metal base. Finally, the surface of the object is polished smooth. Due to the expensive and fragile nature of enamel, it is almost exclusively found on weapons for ceremony and presentation (1983.413).


Rudimentary methods of enameling seem to have been known as early as the second century B.C., and were used until the early medieval period. One of these methods involved setting cut glass pieces into the metal recesses (garnet cloisonné) and was used to adorn the fittings and buckles of Anglo-Saxon armor and sword belts. Although true enameling was a popular means of decoration during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it is infrequently found on arms and armor and is mostly encountered on the hilts of English Neoclassical presentation swords (26.145.315).

[Patroklos]

So it appears GRRM has been taking some liberties with its widespread use in his universe.

[Elheru Aran]

So it appears GRRM has been taking some liberties with its widespread use in his universe.

Ish. The main reason it wasn't used so much on armour here is that it's expensive to do large amounts of enamel. The various lords of the GoT verse don't really give a shit, though-- they're all about the flash, especially the Lannisters.

The armour could be kept functional, if elaborate, by making a separate outer layer that's enameled for wearing at show occasions. Garnitures such as this are well attested in the historical record.

Re latest update: looks like Oberyn Martell's armour has a base of a shirt of very fine maille. The rest of it appears to be primarily leather, although it could possibly be lined with heavier mail. You can see visible wrinkles in it, front and back, so it can't be plate covered with leather. The pauldrons are likely boiled or treated leather, but the flapping around they're doing in the last picture is disgraceful-- they should really have been pointed down to the shirt sleeves.

Gregor Clegane's helmet appears to be a form of sallet, with a bevor in front of his mouth. It's hard to tell though if it's of one piece with the bevor or not (haven't watched the episode); if it was, then it's not so much a sallet as an open-faced variant of a bascinet.

[Crazedwraith]

A note on the enamel. In the books some stuff is enamelled yes but the best Armourers claim to be able to colour the steel directly with magic spells. And regard enamel as a 'crutch of journeymen'. Just a fun fact. I don't know if that's a thing that can be done in real life or really is magic.

Tywin tries to get oathkeeper/widow's wail coloured crimson in that fashion but it doesn't work so well with Valyrian steel so they end up mixed dark red and grey.

[Vympel]

Another look at Vale soldiers:



Vale soldiers with heavier armor:



Dorne soldiers:

[LaCroix]

So it appears GRRM has been taking some liberties with its widespread use in his universe.

He might be influenced by the british armor tradition - since the foundation of the Royal Armory near Greenwich, there soon started a kind of a contest among noblemen with the permission to buy a set at the royal armory - they tried to be the gaudiest. (Most of these armors were tournament sets, so they really wanted to make an impression with the king.)

Google "Greenwich_armour" to see some examples - a plate completely enamelled in crimson, with golden bands, for example. The colors of surviving suits have faded with age, but were bright and lively as on the surviving design documents (Each was made to specific designs, archived under the name of the client, in a kind of a copyrighted system - the 'Almain Album') when the armor was new.

And yes, enamelling was only one technique - there are techniques to create certain other colors (similar to blueing a gun) that don't need enamel.

[Elheru Aran]

Looks like the Dornish wear either quilted gambesons or fabric-covered mail. Kind of a Chinese influence on the upper-arm protection there.

Is that Alexander Siddig's character?

[TheHammer]

Looks like the Dornish wear either quilted gambesons or fabric-covered mail. Kind of a Chinese influence on the upper-arm protection there.

Is that Alexander Siddig's character?

No but he certainly bears a resemblance.

[Vympel]

Another look at the men of House Tyrell, albeit from a distance.