The first season of the prequel series ‘Game Of Thrones’ ‘House Of The Dragon’ has been running on ProSieben since January 8, 2024. And the first episode is very reminiscent of the weddings of ‘Game Of Thrones’ with a mixture of sex, violence, dragons and intrigue. There are also some tangible connections between the two series, such as the iconic dagger and a prophecy about the white people walker. But what probably connects the two series most clearly: The Iron Throne in King’s Landing (German: Königsmund). But why does the throne look so different in ‘House Of The Dragon’?
“A Song of Ice and Fire” author George RR Martin and “House Of The Dragon” showrunner Ryan J. Condal answered this question in an interview with the magazine : “I said a long time ago that the Iron Throne in ‘Game Of Thrones’ […] “It’s nothing like the Iron Throne described in my books,” Martin said. “There are dozens of images of the throne as described in the books, and the best is by Marc Simonetti.” You can see a photo of it here:
“I know Ryan and his team wanted something similar, but that wasn’t possible because the Simonetti throne is five meters high and you would need a camera crane to film the king,” Martin continued. “So we came up with something that was closer to Simonetti, but didn’t quite work.”
Showrunner Ryan J. Condal added: “We wanted to build this amazing piece that the Simonetti picture is famous for. But the problem on the production side was: when you position one actor so high and everyone else so much lower, it’s hard to be with the king.
‘You always film over his nose or over his shoulder, towards people. You should scream. […] We wanted to show grandeur and decadence, but in a way that was feasible for the production and didn’t tear our cameramen’s hair out.“
The old throne is still there – just hidden!
An interesting point that Condal also explains in the interview: the new Iron Throne was actually built around the old Iron Throne. “Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have created something truly iconic. Just the silhouette, the shape, everyone recognizes it. It’s as iconic as the lightsaber from Star Wars.”
“We wanted to pay tribute to that, but also tell the story of a more decadent time and beyond indicate that there is 200 years between the two series. If you look closely, you will see that the original throne is still there. It was simply expanded and embellishedwhich shows that the story makes some changes along the way.
So maybe at some point between “House Of The Dragon” and “Game Of Thrones” someone decided that so many swords in the throne room was a bit dangerous. And maybe in further seasons of “House Of The Dragon” we will even see how the throne monster gradually becomes the Iron Throne known from “Game Of Thrones”. Season 2 of the fantasy hit awaits us in the summer of 2024.