The Iron Throne continues to loom large over Westeros.
And in the Game of Thrones series House of the Dragon, it's even bigger than the one featured in the fan favorite HBO series. Images from the upcoming prequel show the throne in all its glory, with an abundance of swords and metal cascading down the stairs.
"It was real fun to build that," showrunner Miguel Sapochnik told Entertainment Weekly. "I've got to say, it's one of the most satisfying processes because there was no limit placed on how we did it. Rather, we designed it and then kind of worked backward."
It's a more accurate depiction of the throne George R.R. Martin envisioned, but posed a challenge for the filmmakers as it's not your typical chair. In the story, the metal object is forged from swords of Aegon Targaryen's defeated enemies and towers over everyone in the room at almost 15 feet. But this simply wasn't feasible.
"We were designing [for House of the Dragon] and realizing, 'If we make it that high, we'll never shoot anybody up there to have an exchange,'" Sapochnik explained. "You'll need a crane every single time."
The twisted swords surround the throne used in the original series and serve to elevate the ruler, creating even more distance between him and his subjects. As co-showrunner Ryan Condal explained, the new chair "communicates this is a time of great influence and wealth for the people that built this thing."
The room in which the King sits is also different, with Condal and Sapochnik bringing in statues, which posed yet another challenge. According to the showrunners, they didn't want to warp history too much since Game of Thrones takes place in the same settings, but 200 years later. "We were trying to figure out a way to tell the story of why there had not been any statues in the old show," said Condal, noting that the absence of the statues in Game of Thrones was partially born of artistic choices and budget constraints.
They eventually decided that the best explanation is the statues were stolen during the attack on King's landing, with Condal saying, "A lot of stuff happens in 200 years."
Fans can see these changes and more when House of the Dragon premieres Aug. 21 on HBO.