Con of Thrones 2018: A guide

The second annual Con of Thrones, the biggest Game of Thrones convention of its kind, is coming to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas, Texas this Friday, May 25. Are you ready for a three-day full-tilt celebration of all things Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, complete with panels, celebrity guests, vendors, cosplay parties and more? Get your tickets now!

Now, no one person could experience everything Con of Thrones has to offer, so full to the brim is it with merriment. Fans have multiple distractions available every hour, with sometimes upwards of 10 different panels going on at once! But let’s take a look at the con’s official programming schedule and sample a few of the offerings. This is by no means a complete list, just a few that pop out:

Friday

10:00 a.m.

• Con of Thrones kicks off in the Landmark Ballroom. The opening ceremonies are not to be missed!
• But even now, there are other panels afoot, panels like The Influence of Shakespeare in ASOIAF/GoT, moderated by Twitter’s ShakespeareofThrones.

11:00 a.m.

• Get historical with a panel on Targaryen Politics in Post-Dragon Westeros. “What goes into the building of a new government following the extinction of dragons? The question has arisen before in the age of Aegon III, after the Dance of Dragons.”

12:00 noon

• On the main stage, Sibel Kekilli (Shae) tells tales out of school. Meanwhile, in Cumberland Hall, there’s a panel I suddenly have a very strong desire to attend: “The Fire From the Ice: How the Grateful Dead’s Music Influenced A Song of Ice and Fire.”

1:00 p.m.

• There’s a panel called Finish the Books, George. You know what you’re getting with that one.

2:00 p.m.

• Over the next four hours, Kekilli, Sam Coleman (Young Hodor) and Aimee Richardson (Myrcella Baratheon 1.0) are either signing autographs or taking pictures with fans, which is tremendous, but don’t let that distract you from panels like Discovering the Warrior of Light, about the various candidates who could be Azor Ahai; and Comedy and Carnage, about the comedic elements of the series.

3:00 p.m.

• Kekilli, Coleman and Richardson move on to signing autographs, but I think we can all agree that the highlight of this hour is Queering Westeros, where panelists unpack the importance of queer characters on Game of Thrones and in A Song of Ice and Fire. Why? Because I’m one of the speakers, of course! (Please be kind. I’ve never been on a panel and may turn out my intestines on stage.)

4:00 p.m.

• Lots of interesting panels to choose from here, but I’m drawn toward All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter: The Connections Between Lord of The Rings and ASOIAF, and Cooking with Ice and Fire: Food and Food Themes in Game of Thrones.

5:00 p.m.

• Game of Thrones weapons master Tommy Dunne holds court for the fans at a meet and greet. Also, consider attending The Great Debates: The Most Consequential Death. The Great Debate panels are a lot of fun, and very heavy on audience participation.

That’s a wrap on the panels proper for the day, but the fun continues into the night with events like Quiz of Thrones, Con of Thrones Feud, Burlington Bar Commentary: Mockingbird and Karaoke Night in the main ballroom. “I do so hope he plays ‘The Rains of Castamere.’ It’s been an hour, I’ve forgotten how it goes.”