"I think it's accurate in that HBO has always been very, very good at a very specific thing," replies the director, "which is to take an audience to a world that was tantalising and thrilling and foreign and exciting - and then surprise us by how intimately we connect to that world. That was certainly true with The Sopranos , where we got to go into the Mob world in a way that had never been done before. But there was some nervousness about whether we could do a fantasy show and really find millions [of viewers] that went beyond the usual fantasy community." Of course, in the post- Twilight , post- Potter , mid- Hunger Games and pre- Hobbit world, certainly that community is growing all the time. "I hear it all the time: people who say they were surprised that they had never really connected to a fantasy story before, and didn't consider themselves that kind of audience - but found themselves drawn in by this one." Richard Madden's character Robb, the princely son of Ned, is forced to step up in season two. This morning, back in Belfast's Titanic Quarter, Madden went to meet his director. They rendezvoused in the Red Keep, home of the titular, much-coveted, much-disputed seat of rulers. The Iron Throne is forged from the swords of lords who have bowed before the king. Did the actor dare sit on it? He grimaces, before displaying a loyalty to the books that would make Martin