HBO's House of the Dragon changed the look of the Iron Throne, and a line from Game of Thrones season 2 may explain the massive difference. The House of the Dragon trailer revealed several significant characters in HBO's upcoming Game of Thrones prequel. Brief scenes show all the major players, including Paddy Considine's King Viserys Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy's Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower, and Rhys Ifans' Otto Hightower. However, the trailer mainly focuses on Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen, who provides the biting narration, teasing the impending Targaryen conflict. "Dreams didn't make us kings. Dragons did," he says.
Game of Thrones concluded in 2019 with a controversial ending. The first episodes of the abbreviated final season received critical praise; however, mounting criticism soon took over the narrative. From anger over episodes that were too dark to see to a modern coffee cup appearing in the background of a scene, the online backlash kept growing as the season went on. Finally, the criticism became so overwhelming that it inspired a petition to redo the final season, which received nearly 2 million signatures. The backlash even made its way into the Game of Thrones cast's WhatsApp chat group.
The House of the Dragon trailer revealed an update to the Iron Throne, which an old line from Game of Thrones may explain. In HBO's original show, the Iron Throne was supposed to be forged by dragon fire and made of 1,000 blades from Aegon the Conqueror's enemies; however, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) notes in season 3 that there are not even 200 swords in the metal chair. House of the Dragon changes things, adding dozens of blades around the structure and making Westeros' power seat much more accurate to author George R.R. Martin's books. It's drastically different from HBO's old throne, and Game of Thrones season 2 seems to reveal why.
In the Game of Thrones season 2 premiere, Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) explains how kings change the throne room when they take over. In the season 2 episode, Cersei (Lena Headey) enters the Great Hall and sees Joffrey directing others to redecorate. After she asks what's going on, he says he's returning the room to its proper appearance. "That is a seat for a conqueror. It needs a room to match it, not vines and flowers." Joffrey's line explains everything fans need to know about the Iron Throne change in House of the Dragon. Kings have their own preferences. In fact, his predecessor, King Robert (Mark Addy), may have played a large part in the Iron Throne's change. After all, King Robert had the Targaryen dragon skulls removed from the Great Hall. So it's not a stretch to assume he had some swords removed too.
Besides a king's preference, there's also another reason at play. House of the Dragon takes place 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Because of that, it's understandable that the Iron Throne changed over time. With different Targaryen kings coming in and out and various members of court spreading their influence, perhaps it's surprising that there's anything left of the original Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. After all, the events of House of the Dragon won't be the last time a Targaryen tries to take Westeros with fire and blood.