The weirwood tree face in House of the Dragon is based on a real person

Weirwood trees are a distinctive feature of Westeros as imagined by A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. They're bone-white trees with red leaves, mostly found in the North but common at one time throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Sometimes, there will be a face carved on a weirwood tree. It then becomes a heart tree, which is considered sacred in the religion of the old gods. (Any tree can become a heart tree, incidentally, but most often it's a weirwood.)

On House of the Dragon, characters like Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen spend time visiting the weirwood tree in the godswood in the Red Keep. It featues in the backgrounds of many, its face looking over moments like Alicent and Rhaenyra's early bonding, Daemon Targaryen seducing his niece, and Criston Cole's suicide attempt.

It's an eerie feature to have in your backyard, particularly with the red sap seeping out the eyes like bloody tears. But it was fun for the production team to put together, as they revealed in an episode of the behind-the-scenes show The House that Dragons Built. In the fourth episode, House of the Dragon showrunner Miguel Sapochnik reveals that the face was modeled on that of his own mother:

"We needed a face for the godswood tree, and I just decided that it should be my mum. She wasn't impressed, either. She was like, 'What's that weird face?' And I was like, 'Well, it's you, actually.'"

Is this tribute sweet or creepy? That's for Sapochnik's mother to decide.

Sapochnik served as showrunner on the first season of House of the Dragon, but has since stepped down. In season 2, his co-showrunner Ryan Condal will be going it alone, with help from Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor. House of the Dragon season 2 will premiere sometime this summer.

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h/t Collider