Filming has been underway on House of the Dragon, the first of several Game of Thrones spinoffs HBO is contemplating, for a while now. We’ve seen photos of the cast members, including Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy, in full costume, including bleach-blonde Targaryen wigs; the show is set over 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones and follows members of the Targaryen family during a key part of Westerosi history: the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
We’ll get to know many of Daenerys Targaryen’s ancestors on this show. Because it takes place in Westeros, we’ll also see a fair number of locations we’re already familiar with, including Winterfell and the Red Keep of King’s Landing. In fact, we may be looking at the latter in a photo posted by key grip Stephen Weightman on his private Instagram, later reposted by the account camerarevolution. We won’t actually embed the post here just in case HBO is feeling litigious, but you can see it here.
At first glance, that definitely does look like the inside of the Red Keep. It may even be the throne room where King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) sits the Iron Throne, although it’s hard to tell for sure since the angle doesn’t show us everything.
The Targaryens decorate the Red Keep their way
The most interesting detail is definitely the dragon-themed torch affixed to the wall. When the Targaryens were running the place, they had dragon stuff everywhere, and lined the throne room with the skulls of the dead dragons who had served their family before. When Robert Baratheon took over, it stands to reason that he got rid of as much Targaryen heraldry as possible, since he had a deep hatred for the family. But way back when, things were different.
It’s also possible that what looks like a dragon is actually a seahorse, which would put us at Driftmark, the seat of the powerful House Velaryon, an important player in this story. We know they’ve been filming scenes at Driftmark, so it’s not out of the question. I think it’s a dragon, though; those are some big wings.
Also, I hope Stephen Weightman didn’t get chewed out too bad by the HBO spoiler police.
Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon shoots in Portugal
The House of the Dragon team is building the outside of the Red Keep as well as the inside (assuming that picture shows us the inside). Los Siete Reinos brings us a report of a red castle structure going up in the backlot of the studio in England where the show is filming, as well as the news that House of the Dragon will be shooting in the Portuguese town of Monsanto, which has a castle and medieval wall that would be right at home in Westeros.
Expect House of the Dragon to debut on HBO sometime in 2022.
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