Go behind the scenes on House of the Dragon’s stunning Driftmark set

The latest episode of House of the Dragon featured a royal wedding of extravagant proportions, but that was far from the only notable thing about it. In addition to the bloody events that occurred in King’s Landing, “We Light The Way” also took us to High Tide, the seat of House Velaryon on the isle of Driftmark. We’d gotten glimpses at Driftmark before, like when Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) invited Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) there to form an alliance to fight the Crabfeeder in Episode 2. But this time around we got a much better look at the place.

The most breathtaking thing about the episode’s Driftmark segment was undoubtedly the Hall of Nine, which is what the great hall of High Tide is called, so named after the nine voyages that Corly Velaryon took around the world. On each of those voyages, he brought back vast wealth and treasures to his ancestral seat. Many of those treasures decorate the Hall of Nine, making it almost like a museum of artifacts from distant lands.

As you might expect, designing the Hall of Nine was quite the endeavor. HBO has just released a new video which shows the incredible attention to detail that went into the Sea Snake’s prized collection of exotic treasures. Check it out:

Behind the scenes video of Driftmark shows amazing props

“All these wonderful objects are an incredible tribute to the Sea Snake’s life,” explains Steve Toussaint. “It is a vanity. Because of course it’s like, ‘Yeah I did that. And I did that. And I did that. And what did you do? Oh you were born into royalty. Well, I made myself.’ And so there are all these wonderful objects and mementos from his voyages, his legendary nine voyages.”

Honestly, it’s almost a shame we didn’t get to see more of the Hall of Nine in the episode, because those props are pretty gorgeous. From an enormous nautilus shell to magnificent tiered chandeliers, an orrery held up by snake statues, an elephant skeleton, tons of masks and busts, and even a wall-size map that charts out the Sea Snake’s voyages, the set design at High Tide was as ambitious as anything on Game of Thrones. Hopefully we get to see more of this setting in the future.

For Toussaint, it was important that all these set dressings weren’t just there to look nice. He had to understand the meaning behind them. “Before we started shooting in there, I had asked [showrunner Ryan Condal] for some information about the voyages or at least about the mementos, so when I, as the Sea Snake, looked at those things I had a memory. It was not going to be in the script. It was just something for me.”

“We really pointed a lot at Hearst Castle and what William Randolph Hearst built with his family’s wealth, and then filled it with the treasures and artifacts he was able to acquire,” adds Ryan Condal. “The Sea Snake did the same thing, but these were artifacts that he essentially won or purchased on his own travels, being the Sinbad of this time.”

Corlys Velaryon’s Driftwood Throne is made of actual driftwood

If there can be said to be a centerpiece to the Hall of Nine, it’s without a doubt the Driftwood Throne. Legend has it that this throne was given to Corlys Velaryon’s ancient ancestors as part of a pact with a god known as the Merling King, long before the Targaryens had even come to Westeros. It was an important bit of set design to get right, and the show did a splendid job with it.

“The Driftwood Throne was really interesting because that was the Sea Snake’s ancestral seat,” explains Ryan Condal. “We wanted to build it and do it service ’cause the Sea Snake is a proud guy, and [Jim and Claire] went out and actually built a throne out of driftwood. It’s an incredible piece of work. And really the only person whose feet touched the ground when they sat on it was Steve Toussaint, the Sea Snake himself.”

You don’t even need to take Condal’s word for it; the video has a brief glimpse of his co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik sitting on the Driftwood Throne, and indeed his feet don’t reach all the way to the ground. That’s one way to remember who’s chair it is.

HBO is currently developing a spinoff called 9 Voyages (or possibly Sea Snake; they haven’t settled on a title), which would show the famed journeys of Corlys Velaryon in his younger years. Hopefully the studio follows through on that one so we can see the origin of some of these treasures.

House of the Dragon premieres new episodes Sundays at 9:00 p.m. EST on HBO and HBO Max.

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