Why does King's Landing look different in House of the Dragon?
During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, VFX supervisor Mike Bell provided an in-depth explanation for why King's Landing looks different in House of the Dragon. Bell explains that Game of Thrones used digital matte painting, while the bigger-budget prequel show was able to create a fully CGI city.
The majority of House of the Dragon was filmed in Spain, Cornwall and Derbyshire, with most of the show's action taking place in King's Landing.
Fortunately, the show's co-creator Ryan Condal actually addressed this query in an interview with TVLine. He explained that there are 17 different dragons in the show, each with a distinct look, because 'otherwise, you won't be able to differentiate between them'.
The hilly, lush coastal town of earlier seasons is no more, replaced by a city in a sprawling, arid flatland, where the harbor is no longer the defining geographical trait and the locations outside the walls might be more important than those within.
Warning: SPOILERS for House of the Dragon Episode 8 - "The Lord of the TIdes"The Red Keep looks markedly different in House of the Dragon episode 8, which clarifies why the Iron Throne looks so different in Game of Thrones.
Is Daenerys Targaryen related to Rhaenyra? Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones is a distant descendent of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who she has been compared to in House of the Dragon.
"If you look closely enough within that object, you will see the original object," Condal adds. Meaning the original Iron Throne design for Game of Thrones is still alive within the one for House of the Dragon.
“We wanted to do stuff [differently] in art direction and the costume design, and it was kind of all in-camera, and therefore it got a lot more colorful.” The effect of this is immediately recognizable during the first scene of House of the Dragon, which takes place many years before the rest of the series.
While many believe it is an issue with the cinematography, it is actually to do with colour grading, which is done in post-production. So the dark tone, literally, was a deliberate creative choice on part of the director Miguel Sapochnik.
Olivia Cooke will now take over the role of the Queen and Emma D'Arcy will be playing the Princess. While they are playing the same characters at different stages of their lives, the producers decided they didn't want the pairs to meet during production.
Why are the Targaryens in Kings Landing?
King's Landing was founded by King Aegon I Targaryen, King of the Andals and the First Men. He established a small wooden fort atop the hill, named the Aegonfort in his honor, where his ships first landed from Dragonstone, and used this as a base for his campaign to conquer the continent.
The island monastery of Mont Saint-Michel, a clear model for King's Landing's Red Keep.
House Targaryen ruled as the kings of Westeros for nearly 300 years. Their seats were the capital city of King's Landing and the island castle of Dragonstone.
The Red Keep and Aegon's High Hill have a network of secret passages and tunnels. King Maegor I Targaryen had them built to enable him to make a quick escape should his enemies ever trap him.
Construction of the Red Keep began in 35 AC during the reign of King Aegon I Targaryen and continued into the reign of King Aenys I Targaryen.
Caraxes is his giant, red-scaled dragon who Daemon keeps in the Red Keep. Caraxes, first ridden by Daemon's uncle Aemon, is a slightly deformed dragon in the series. He has an unsually long neck and wings on his hind legs as well, this earned him the nickname “Blood Wyrm.”
7 Princess Rhaenys Targaryen Is Jon Snow's, First Cousin Ten Times Removed. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen is known as "The Queen That Never Was." Her father was Prince Aemon Targaryen, the third son of King Jaehaerys I. Princess Rhaenys was passed over as the heir to the Iron Throne after her father's death.
And Rhaegar is the secret father of Jon Snow, whose mother was Lyanna Stark. Again, House of the Dragon will likely end long before Viserys II Targaryen ever sits the Iron Throne, but if you're wondering exactly how the generation of Targaryens from the new show is related to the old one, now you know.
In Fire & Blood, however, Rhaenyra is in love with Daemon from a young age. Things change after she meets Criston Cole. Nevertheless, George R. R. Martin's books show that Rhaenyra's first love was Daemon, whereas House of the Dragon has a slower build-up between the two.
Rhaenyra Targaryen, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, briefly considered bending the knee to her half-brother King Aegon II in the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, thus sparing the citizens of Westeros years of dragon fire and bloodshed.
What illness does King Viserys have?
Leprosy is a slow moving disease
The show has got the speed of the disease correct. King Viserys has lived with leprosy for many decades and the disease has grown very slowly.
The Dance of Dragons was a civil war between all members of the Targaryen family, since their main focus was the south this meant the Starks were not considered an essential house to be involved.
Everyone who was a teenager in House of the Dragon Episode 5 has now been recast in Episode 6. Rhaenyra, Alicent, Laenor, and Laena are all being played by older actors to show they're all grown up now and ready for their own Game of Thrones.
Maegor and Viserys are not the only two people to have been cut by the Iron Throne. Daenerys Targaryen's paranoid father Aerys II Targaryen was commonly known as The Mad King, but because he cut himself so often on the Iron Throne he was also dubbed King Scab.
Because of the fanged steel behind, it is impossible to lean back on the iron seat of the Iron Throne. Aegon I intended for it to be uncomfortable, believing that "a king should never sit easy". The points of the twisted blades fan out like talons from arms of the throne.
Cinematographer Fabian Wagner blamed HBO's video compression, claiming it added pixelation and darkened colors. After "Driftmark," episode 7 of House of the Dragon, aired viewers once again flocked to social media to express their frustration.
Fans concluded the Targaryen genes were recessive, but when it came to children of a Targaryen male and non-Valyrian mother their first would be born with darker features, while subsequent offspring were blonde.
The Targaryens have white or silvery blonde hair because the family is originally from Old Valyria, where lighter hair colours and skin were extremely common. Thanks to generations of inbreeding, the Targaryens have managed to preserve their distinctive Valyrian features.
“We always knew it was necessary to move the story forward in the first season's story line,” the show's co-creator and co-showrunner wrote in an email to Vulture. “This is ultimately a generational conflict, so we had to cover a large swath of years in order to properly set the pieces on the board.”
Like Laenor Velaryon's sexuality, it was a “known secret” in the Red Keep that Harwin Strong was the father to Rhaenyra's three children: Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey.
Why was Rhaenyra killed?
traitors have always paid with their lives... even Rhaenyra Targaryen. She was daughter to one king and mother to two more, yet she died a traitor's death for trying to usurp her brother's crown.
Aegon I is the pinnacle of Targaryen greatness. His name is mentioned so often across the course of the show that book-averters and die-hard fans alike can both recite his history. He is the reason that the Seven Kingdoms exist as we know them. He is the legendary rider of the largest dragon, Balerion the Black Dread.
The Lannisters featured prominently in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon with Jason and Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall).
They're famed for their ability to tame dragons; hence, “house of the dragon.” That rare talent helped the Targaryens establish an immense dynasty over the realm; but as always when we're dealing with Game of Thrones, even empires can topple, and the iron throne is never a safe place to sit.
Daenerys Targaryen transformed into the Mad Queen in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, but why did Daenerys go mad? Essentially, the reason Daenerys burned King's Landing to the ground is that she had already lost everyone and everything dearest to her.
Most of Winterfell Castle is in Northern Ireland, with the exception of one additional location at Doune Castle in Scotland.
We had a full CG, fully recognized King's Landing with all its encompassing buildings: the Red Keep, the Dragonpit, the Grand Sept, and the new tourney ground.
In A Dance With Dragons, Tyrion Lannister discovers that a youth going by the name of Young Griff is truly Aegon Targaryen in disguise. A story is given of how Aegon was switched with another baby by Varys and spirited away to be raised in secret until he could claim the Iron Throne.
The phrase "blood of the dragon" refers to the Valyrian descent of the Targaryens, and more specifically to the fact that they were one of forty dragonlord families of Valyria.
Following the death of King Viserys, the Greens install Aegon as the King on the Iron Throne and he is crowned in the Dragonpit of King's Landing.
Why are all Targaryens immune to fire?
In fact, Martin outright said as much during a Q&A back in 1999, calling the idea that Targaryens were magically immune to fire a “common misconception.” “TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE!” the author emphatically stated. “The birth of Dany's dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle.
TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE! The birth of Dany's dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle. She is called The Unburnt because she walked into the flames and lived. But her brother sure as hell wasn't immune to that molten gold.
No, Targaryens are not immune to fire.
Similarly, Daenerys' brother Viserys was killed when Khal Drogo dumped a pot of molten gold over his head, so they're clearly not immune to extreme heat either.
It took about 800 hours to construct the moving Red Keep using 125,000 Lego pieces.
Eventually, Daenerys begins to destroy the Red Keep, the castle built by her ancestors to house the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Much of the Red Keep falls, including a grand staircase, the cellar through which Jaime and Cersei try to escape, and the courtyard that housed the famed painted map of Westeros.
The Black Cells are a level of the dungeons of the Red Keep. They are reserved for prisoners accused of high crimes, such as treason. Cells are completely dark, with no possible light sources (except when jailers enter with torches).
Sunfyre devoured Rhaenyra in six bites, leaving only her left leg below the shin. Prince Aegon the Younger was forced to watch his mother die, and Elinda Massey allegedly gouged out her eyes in horror.
Drogon is believed to be the reincarnation of Balerion the Black Dread, but Daenerys decides to give him a new name for his new life.
Where is the show set? Like its predecessor, much of House of the Dragon takes place in Westeros, with familiar settings like King's Landing and Dragonstone, but keep an eye out for some new locations we've never seen before. Explore the Official Map to get a sense of where everything is.
One of House of the Dragon episode 1's first scenes involved a dragon's eye view of the seemingly opulent Westeros capital, as it appeared from higher up to the dragon Syrax and its dragonrider, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), as they returned to King's Landing.
What kingdom does House of the Dragon take place in?
Westeros is quite possibly the most important place in the world of Game of Thrones and the prequel show, House of the Dragon, is also set in this country.
The new HBO show serves as a prequel to the beloved Thrones series, but when is it set? House of the Dragon is set around 103 AC, approximately 200 years before the events of Thrones, when the Targaryens are at the height of their powers.
Leprosy is a slow moving disease
The show has got the speed of the disease correct. King Viserys has lived with leprosy for many decades and the disease has grown very slowly.
Character description
Daenerys Targaryen is the daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen (also referred to as "The Mad King") and his sister-wife Queen Rhaella, and is one of the last survivors of House Targaryen.
House of the Dragon also begins by establishing the 9th year of King Viserys' reign, 112 AC, is 172 years before the death of Mad King Aerys and the birth of his daughter, Daenerys Targaryen.
Viserys had a form of leprosy in House of the Dragon.
He's just, unfortunately, got this thing that's taken over his body.
While we conjectured that something inside forced Daemon to stop before he took Rhaenyra's virginity, a recent HBO-approved “Inside the Episode” installment revealed that something was literally impotence. He literally couldn't get it up.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Paddy Considine revealed that his character was suffering from a form of leprosy, which would be incurable at the time. The nasty wounds and legions festering on Viserys's back and arms were likely his downfall, especially after it took one of his arms and eyes.
The Lannisters featured prominently in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon with Jason and Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall).
The Dance of the Dragons. A war of succession began with the death of Aegon's grandfather, King Viserys I Targaryen, early in 129 AC. Though Aegon's mother, Rhaenyra Targaryen, had been named heir to the Iron Throne by Viserys, Aegon the Younger's half-uncle, Aegon the Elder, was crowned King Aegon II in King's Landing ...
Who becomes king after Viserys Targaryen?
Aegon II Targaryen, also known as Aegon the Elder, was the sixth Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne, succeeding his father, Viserys I Targaryen, as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.
For a show to be seen as a success, it needs to generate a lot of buzz in a short period of time, so House of the Dragon needed to impress right away. The time jumps, then, make explicit how the studio actually approached the show as a gamble.
By House of the Dragon's fourth episode, Rhaenyra is around 18 years old and Daemon is 34.