The Iron Throne was much more dangerous on the set of the Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon, according to showrunner Miguel Sapochnik. Based on George R.R. Martin's 2018 novel Fire & Blood, the hotly-anticipated House of the Dragon series is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Created by Martin and Ryan J. Condal for HBO, the prequel show will find House Targaryen at the height of their powers and chronicle their eventual downfall leading up to the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

Paddy Considine leads the House of the Dragon cast as the benevolent King Viserys I Targaryen, the current occupant of the Iron Throne when the prequel series begins. Doctor Who's Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans also round out the show's sizable ensemble. House of the Dragon began filming in April 2021 primarily in the United Kingdom at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios where a large number of sets were constructed for the Game of Thrones prequel series, including a new throne room.

During a recent interview with EW, Sapochnik opened up about filming House of the Dragon. The showrunner revealed the Iron Throne was much more dangerous on the set of the prequel compared to its parent series given they used genuine pointed swords to line the walkway to the chair. Read what Sapochnik shared below:

Literally we had to put [up] fences when we first built it. Some of them are real swords. It is as dangerous as it is [described] in the books.

Sapochnik, who serves as showrunner on House of the Dragon alongside Condal, is known for directing a few of the most ambitious and action-packed episodes of Game of Thrones, including "Hardhome," "Battle of the Bastards," and "The Long Night." The prequel show's redesigned and more "dangerous" Iron Throne is much more in line with what Martin originally envisioned in A Song of Ice and Fire. In the books, he describes the throne as a huge asymmetrical tangle of blades forged from the swords of Aegon the Conqueror's vanquished enemies.

While Game of Thrones took a much more modest approach to the Iron Throne, which Martin openly scoffed at, the prequel show is clearly attempting to rectify this oversight. On House of the Dragon, Sapochnik estimates about 2,500 swords were used to construct the set piece and tennis balls were placed on the tips of the blades that line the walkway in order to prevent accidental injury when the cameras weren't rolling. While some felt that Game of Thrones lost its way once the series passed Martin's books around season 5, the redesigned Iron Throne is just one example of how House of the Dragon is going out of its way to stay true to the author's original vision and source material.