The House of the Dragon experience has opened on August 5th and gives visitors a chance to walk the halls of King’s Landing! It runs until September 7th at the Natural History Museum Los Angeles and is worth the general admission price! Check out more information and buy tickets here: https://nhm.org/houseofthedragon. Parts of the exhibit were at San Diego Comic Con like the dragon skull and Iron Throne. The ticket booth is next to the parking lot. Access is on the ground floor, below the entrance of the museum, which is impressive itself with a skeleton of a Fin Whale suspended from the ceiling. Over the railing, you can peek down at the Iron Throne. A queue is formed just before the doors outside. It is a short walk and turn to reach the entrance.
The exhibit is housed in a large four room-sized part of a building with the show’s logo. Once you enter there is a long history of Westeros which I skipped since I know a good part of it. Then, you reach a screen showing the video, Before the Dance: An Illustrated History with George R.R. Martin. To the left is the skull of Balerion “The Black Dread”, ridden by Aegon the Conqueror. He united the Seven Kingdoms and had the Iron Throne made from the thousand swords of his defeated enemies. The dragon skull is massive with “big, nasty teeth”, horns like frills at the back, it is a black skeleton that just dwarfs the T-Rexes in the museum’s Dinosaur Hall. Next to it is the Dragon Saddle, which belonged to Laena Targaryen, that she used to ride Vhagar, the largest dragon in Westeros history!
It has a patterned back rest, a large strap, and two pommels like a strange insect. In a corner is the outfit of a DragonKeeper, in the direction of the dragon skull facing out; almost like a tan robe, red underclothes, and gloves. On the facing wall is a size comparison chart of a Human, a Dragon, and a Blue Whale. Then, a T-Rex, Elephant, and more animals. Below it is the code to access DracARys. To the left of it is a display of three dragon eggs. They are impressive, one had scale-like patterns like a swarm of beetles with moss clinging to its bottom. Another had almost iridescent, purple scales that shifted into a coppery color. The last one is brownish, but nearly covered by the moss.
The Iron Throne, you can sit there, and rule Westeros!, photo by the author.
To the right of the dragon skull is the sword, Dark Sister, that eventually is wieled by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). Look closely at the patterns forged on the blade of the sword! Next to it, is the two costume displays of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). I keep thinking of Considine from The World’s End (2013). Rhaenrya is called “the Realm’s Delight” and this is reflected in her purple and maroon dress. The detail is incredible, a must for cosplayers, and she has jewelry with her necklace and rings. Viserys wears a black coat with gold rim and a red clothes beneath it. At his side, it looks like handle in Viserys’ coat is what is later Arya Stark’s Catspaw Dagger! Continuing on against the wall is a map of cut black stone with orange-black edges of Westeros. I recognize Winterfell of course, King’s Landing, The Eyrie, Castle Black, and Casterly Rock.
There were so many new castles, but of course places have changed in 200 years! Facing in is a display of the armor of the Kingsguard; it has bands of black and embossed gold around the chest, pauldrons, a cloth tunic, and boots. The helmet is silver, more form fitting that the Game of Thrones armor and no chestplate and protected arms besides cloth, with an armored skirt. It seems like he is protecting what is at the end, the Iron Throne! It has steps flanked by spikes of blades leading to the throne with House Targaryen flags on either side. The wall to the side of the Kingsguard armor has information on High Valyrian, spoken at this time. The exit is right next to this wall. I almost forgot to call my dragon on DracARys, but he was not cooperative taking pictures! There are people there to answer questions and take your picture, shout out to Oscar!, so this is a fascinating Natural History Museum exhibit with information on the dragons and characters. Just in time for House of the Dragon’s premiere on August 21st. “Ao Nyke Perzoni Iksi!”
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