gameofthrones

Note: I mention two small scenes from S07E07 but neither are spoilers, hence the tag.

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I always understood Ned Stark's warning that "Winter is coming" to mean the north above the Neck and Moat Cailin. However, when Jaime rode out of King's Landing in S07E07, he sees snow falling, and we see a lot of it falling in the Dragon Pit in the next scene. The whole time I've watched GOT I've accepted the map as "horizontal." Now, I doubt the truth of this and here's why. Unless the planet is a single biome (meaning one contentious feature such as the desert planet Arrakis from Dune), most follow the same general geography. Depending on the tilt of the world, the more north and south one goes, the colder and more covered in snow the land becomes. Conversely, closer to the equator that region becomes more arid and humid, and occasionally both at the same time. Even in fantasy, authors follow the rules of geology and science when it comes to an inhabited planet orbiting a star.

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Now if you look at The Known World, it doesn't make geographical sense horizontally. If snow, or the long winter, fall as far south as King's Landing, and these winters last for years, then geographically the land should be more northern. For snow to stick and stay stuck for years, the ground has to be colder. Conversely, Essos remains a veritable desert, with pockets of lush forests and southern tropical islands. If Westeros is like Russia, Alaska, and rural Canada, then Essos and the lands east to it are like Africa.

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The thing is George has never shown us what the continents look like on a globe, so orientation is open to interpretation. The following represents what I believe the map of "The World" to be based on common geography and science.

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https://i.imgur.com/4N9I6RI.jpg

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Here's another strong case. Notice that the angle of this map now positions Dorne laterally to Essos. Both are deserts with similar features. Only the fragmented Stepstones divide them. For all we know, these land masses could have been once connected.

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What do you think?