The Seven Kingdoms of HBO’s Game of Thrones has always been a pretty caffeinated sort of kingdom, what with all the sword-swinging, devious plotting, head-lopping, undead killing, and dragon riding constantly going on. The last thing any of these iconic characters needs is a coffee beverage to amp up their fears and desires any further.
Poster Posse, the fantastic online art collective, is hosting a whimsical new poster series by psychedlic pop artist Nicky Barkla that pokes fun at the infamous Starbucks cup, which accidentally made it into a key scene in Game of Thrones’ swan song season. Erupting on social media and immediately pounced upon by eagle-eyed viewers, this funny gaffe electrified the internet for days and was cause for minor embarrassment and a few chuckles by the show’s production team.
Now, Barkla is paying tribute and poking fun at that anachronistic incident with a series of six vivid paintings called The Starbucks of Westeros featuring some of our favorite heroes and villains getting their caffeine fix from Starbucks. These amusing portraits carry certain themes and color schemes befitting each of the Game of Thrones icons and serve to immortalize the bloopery moment for all posterity.
“Our agency has worked with some fantastic pop culture properties over the past six years, so when Poster Posse Pro Nicky Barkla reached out to us with an idea for doing a series of Game of Thrones portraits, we were intrigued,” Poster Posse’s Don Thompson tells SYFY WIRE. “When she explained how she wanted to play off the mishap with the rogue Starbucks cup in the episode ‘The Last of the Starks,’ we got really excited. Nicky has such a vibrant style, we knew we were in for something special. Nicky’s ability to put her signature twist on iconic characters always leaves us spellbound.”
“I’m a keen watcher of the show, much like most — I think folks need fantasy worlds to retire to when reality gets a bit dull, it’s part of our popular culture!” Barkla tells SYFY WIRE. “So having a Starbucks drink, something from our reality, show up in a Game of Thrones scene probably jarred people a bit — ‘that’s not supposed to be there!’
“The first thing I did was giggle at the innocent mistake and immediately imagined how Westeros might look if a Starbucks drink actually was supposed to be there and our favourite fantasy characters took a step into modern day, where posing with themed Starbucks drinks amongst a pretty backdrop to upload to Instagram is the thing to do! I’m sure the Night King would enjoy an icy cool drink if he could!”
Check out the entire half-dozen Game of Thrones paintings produced by the talented hand of Barkla spotlighting Jon Snow, Danny, the Night King, Sansa, Bran, and Arya, all quenching their thirst Starbucks-style in the gallery below.
