See how House of the Dragon's SFX artists created the spectacular Battle of Rook's Rest

The special effects on House of the Dragon aren't just good; they're best in show. What other TV series has a sequence as spectacular as the Battle of Rook's Rest, the big dragon-vs-dragon battle from the fourth episode of the show's recent second season? Even if I had some issues with the season as the whole, that episode knocked me out. The dragons looked fantastic, the emotions ran hot, and the whole thing was spectacular. I agree with James Thompson, the Agile VP and Capture Supervisor at Pixomondo, one of the special effects companies that worked on House of the Dragon season 2: "I have to remind myself, especially after Episode 4, that's TV that we're talking about. That's some of the best stuff I've ever seen."

The pros at Pixomondo recently released a video showing off how the Battle of Rook's Rest sequence come together, taking us from the pre-visualization stage to the lighting to the visual effects and well beyond. It's all very informative and includes tons of fascinating behind-the-scenes footage of everything coming together. Watch below!

The crew at Pixomondo seems justly proud of their work. As VFX production coordinator Jillian Sanders says: "I did shed a tear during the big sequence that we spent months and months and months working out." And why not? WHY NOT? I shed a tear over this sequence and all I did was sit at home and watch it. A round of applause for everyone who worked on this.

Pixomondo also worked on the first season of House of the Dragon as well as several seasons of Game of Thrones. Most likely they'll be back for the third season of House of the Dragon, which will likely be out sometime in 2026. For all we know they also worked on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the new Game of Thrones spinoff coming to HBO and Max next year, although that show will involve far fewer special effects than either of its predecessors, since the dragons are dead at that point in history and the drama happens on a much smaller scale. But it's still set in George R.R. Martin's epic medieval world, so there will be a call for talented people like those at Pixomondo.

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