Game of Thrones gets the Google Maps treatment

If you've just watched the third episode of Game of Thrones season 4, titled Breaker of Chains, then you might have a few questions as the action gets more and more jumbled, after the events of the wonderful Purple Wedding. Things are a little simpler in Essos, where Daenerys Targaryen is laying siege to cities one after the other, but if you want to get a more detailed look at the continent of Westeros to see what's going on after the big wedding in King's Landing, there are a few resources that can help you out.

Whether you're following Game of Thrones the TV series or reading the books that the show is based on, the one problem most people have is that there are just too many characters - and they've got too many similar names as well. You've got Robb who's named for Robert, and you've got Bran and Bronn who bear no connection at all, there are Starks and Karstarks and there are Boltons and probably Padlocks too.

Another complain many following the show have is that they all look fairly similar. There's a reason that nearly everyone who watches Game of Thrones loves Arya and Tyrion, and it's not just because they've been doing a lot of awesome things lately - it's also because they really stand out in the crowd, so it's kinda hard to not recognise them.

There are a lot of resources available on the Internet that do solve the problem actually. A Wiki of Ice and Fire is one of the most ridiculously detailed websites for all the background information that you might want, while you can see a detailed map of both continents on HBO's Game of Thrones website.

Wouldn't it be great if there was something that combined these features?

Enter Interactive Game of Thrones Map with Spoilers Control. Built using the Google Maps API, this map lets you see all the regions, cities and links to their pages on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire website. But that's just the start. You can select characters to follow, and then just move a slider - to tell the map what the last chapter you read, or the last episode you watched was - and you'll see a location marker for your selected characters, along with lines on the map that show you where they've been traveling earlier.

You can move the spoiler slider one episode at a time to watch the slow march of the mother of dragons, or follow the progress of the War of the North, right up till the Red Wedding; or select all your characters and see where their paths crossed.

Interestingly, the work seems to have the blessing of Game of Thrones creator George R R Martin. "This is a very handsome map. And based on the information your have, it's quite good," Martin apparently said. He goe on to say of course there's some information he hasn't shared as the creator, so ther's no way the maps could've got that 'right', adding that an official map of the known world will be coming soon. Once we have that, Game of Thrones should become a little bit easier to follow for everyone.