The actual Iron Throne in Game of Thrones doesn’t look comfy, does it? All those swords and sharp edges, it has to eventually get grating to sit on. According to people involved in TV series prequel House of the Dragon, that’s exactly what the coveted seat is like.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik pointed out that precautions had to be taken to make nobody cut themselves when around the chair. “Literally, we had to put [up] fences when we first built it,” Sapochnik explained. “Some of them are real swords. It is as dangerous as it is [described] in the books.”
Around 2,500 swords were used to construct the prop, with blades from The Witcher and the World of Warcraft fantasy movie used to put it all together. Truly, no expense was spared in making Westeros royalty the head of the table when it comes to fantastical storytelling. Shows like these have crew moving very quickly all around them, so to prevent any incidental stabbings, tennis balls are put on the top of pointy bits.
House of the Dragon is set two centuries before Game of Thrones starts. It follows House Targaryen into a civil war that would devastate the kingdom, and effectively take it out of contention for the Iron Throne for generations.
The other co-showrunner, Ryan J. Condal, created the project with George R. R. Martin, who wrote the source material. Matt Smith leads the cast, Prince Daemon Targaryen, the presumptive heir to House Targaryen’s empire. Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, and Olivia Cooke are among the rest of the cast.
House of the Dragon is the first spin-off since Game of Thrones concluded in 2019. Several more are in the works, including one about Jon Snow, with Kit Harington involved in the development. We’ll keep you informed on the progress there.
In the meantime, House of the Dragon premieres August 21, 2022.