Game Of Thrones: In Conversation WIth George R.R. Martin, Lena Headey & Michelle Fairley

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers.

“Dark lords in dark towers with dark minions dressed in black”.

Anyone who reads fantasy or has an even basic level knowledge of the Lord Of The Rings would be familiar with this scenario, but it was the furthest thing on George R.R. Martin's mind when he started writing his sprawling medieval epic A Song Of Ice and Fire.

Talking to a packed Sydney Opera House last night Martin, who was joined onstage by actresses Lena Headey (Cersei) and Michelle Fairley (Catelyn) from the HBO phenomenon spawned from his books, Game Of Thrones, said he's tried to play with the stereotypical Evil Overlord in creating a multi-layered book series where there is nuance and subtlety to even the most dastardly characters.

But Martin did concede that he can be just as surprised as his audiences when he's putting these beloved characters onto the page, “Sometimes these damn characters have a mind of their own and they don't do what I want them to do.”

And he admitted that he regrets not being able to spend more time writing for the TV series. So far, Martin has penned one episode every season.

Unfortunately for the fans who are patiently waiting for the next installment of the book series and season four of the show all three guest panelists were tight-lipped about what's to come. Instead the evening was a look back at how the show has become one of the biggest things in pop culture.

There was much talk of this season's highlight, the Red Wedding. Fairley paid tribute to the crew shooting the brutal and bloody murder of her character Catelyn Stark and her son in the show, Robb Stark, played by Richard Madden, “There was a wonderful sense of accomplishment.”

Headey also payed tribute to Fairley's acting in the scene and despite their characters' animosity toward each other, Headey and Fairley enjoyed an easy rapport onstage.

When it was pointed out both characters are mothers, Fairley joked, “Some of us are good mothers. Some of us have husbands that love us” and with a mischievous grin Headey came back with, “I fuck my brother.” (in the show, of course)

Held in conjunction with Supanova Pop Culture Expo, the Opera House event was expected to draw crowds of fans dressed as their favourite characters from the book, but despite an Opera House email going out to ticketholders warning them that “all daggers, spears, shields and weaponry” would need to be cloaked a surprisingly few punters turned up in costume though there were a few Peter Dinklage t-shirts.

Fan favourite Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) was originally supposed to appear alongside Martin at last night's event but was replaced with Headey and Fairley.