House of the Dragon’s Lava card table is a new old Westeros reference

A lot happened in the season finale of house of the dragon: Dragon Battles! Judicial intrigue! Impending war!

But one thing caught my eye more than the rest, and that’s that sickly glowing card table in Dragonstone. Westeros has never looked better.

Known as the Painted Table in Thrones lore, it was originally commissioned by Aegon I as he planned his conquest of Westeros. The table is shaped like Westeros and glows, almost like lava flowing through molten rock because of candles underneath. And the effect jumps off the screen.

Image: HBO

First things first: I love a good fantasy map. This is the stuff of the genre and the more tangible the better. (Here’s an interactive map of Westeros, enjoy.)

And that’s exactly what this card is about. Not only does it look cool, although it undoubtedly does. The intricate design and the different visible textures make you want to run your hands over it. Or maybe you just want to play a huge game risk (I know I do, and so do some of Rhaenyra’s advisors).

The Painted Table made a few appearances in game of Thrones Show; This is where Stannis Baratheon meets with his advisors at Dragonstone, and it later reappears during Daenerys’ own conquest. But nowhere else does it look as cool as here.

Image: HBO

This is something a great prequel is good at (and doing here), elevating the world of the show as we know it and deepening even the most routine historical facts as we know it. Here we see the world as it was at its peak when people knew how to use the damn cool looking lava table. It’s not too dissimilar to the show’s relationship with dragons; in thronesthey are a remnant of a bygone era, but here we see them in full force.

house of the dragon‘s The production design has been outstanding throughout its run, and props like this set it apart from some of its competitors in the fantasy TV space. It’s sick and was supposed to be the show’s new season 2 opening.