The Iron Throne was always meant to be enormous. In the original books it was described towering over the room "like a great beast."
"It's put together by blacksmiths not by craftsmen and experts in furniture manufacturing. You have to walk the iron steps, and when a king sits on it he's like 10 feet above everybody else … He's in this raised position looking down on everyone," author George R.R. Martin said in 2014.
French artist Marc Simonetti was apparently the closest anyone ever came to matching Martin's vision for the Iron Throne, with his painting ultimately appearing in The World of Ice and Fire.
House of the Dragon's showrunners have taken Martin's feedback into account in redesigning the Iron Throne, using an estimated 2,500 swords in the show's version of the throne, including some that are real (and quite dangerous).
"Literally we had to put [up] fences when we first built it," co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik told EW in a new interview. "Some of them are real swords. It is as dangerous as it is [described] in the books."
The newly-remade Iron Throne apparently has Martin's blessing, which should please fans of the books looking for a greater sense of authenticity in the prequel series.
EW breaks down 9 exclusive photos from HBO's 'House of the Dragon.' https://t.co/lIdxqXQeOv
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 13, 2022
In a minor but amusing detail, the swords in the new Iron Throne apparently include props used in other fantasy shows including Netflix's The Witcher and the Warcraft movie. Ultimately, there weren't enough swords to go around, which is why the House of the Dragon showrunners had to borrow some from other shows.
It's possible to glimpse the new Iron Throne in the background of one of the photos released earlier today. The new images were revealed in tandem with a host of fresh details about how the showrunners want to make a more diverse Westeros.
House of the Dragon is currently on track to release on August 21, with plenty more shows in production on top of that, including a sequel starring Jon Snow.
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.