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Yes, that is the Game of Thrones catspaw dagger in House of the Dragon

The prequel series co-creator explains how there will be some "shared imagery" with the original show.

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Published on July 15, 2022 10:00AM EDT

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the dagger seen in the hands of Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower in the House of the Dragon trailer was not the same dagger wielded by the catspaw assassin in Game of Thrones season 1. Individuals on the set of the show in December had told EW this was not the same dagger, but after clarifying with the production, this was only true from a manufacturing standpoint. Story wise, it is the same catspaw dagger. We apologize for the error.

The actual catspaw dagger prop was originally shipped over from Ireland to be used in House of the Dragon, but showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik felt the object was a little too "fantasy," according to a source. So the prop was redesigned with the same silhouette and a shorter length.

In terms of the show's story, the crew imagined that King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) had the Valyrian steel dagger, made with a dragon bone handle, before it wound up in Alicent's hands during a climactic scene in the series. Sources tell EW the weapon in House of the Dragon shares the original hilt and handle fittings, but over time it will have been altered and worn enough to become the dagger we see in Game of Thrones.

Condal told EW on the show's set in December that "there's a ton of shared history" between the two shows.

"There's gonna be a lot of linkage in terms of places you go and buildings you see," he continues. "That's 200 years before the original show. So there's gonna be a ton of shared imagery."

Condal applauds how eagle-eyed Thrones fans have proved to be with the House of the Dragon materials already released. (At the time of this interview, it was just the first teaser.)

"It's a line to walk in terms of things that you bring back from the original show and pass in a different way," he says. "I think that it's important to have connective tissue there to show people that it is the same world and history reflects on objects and [the] cast of people and sigils as we move on down through time without it becoming too self-referential."

In terms of the Valyrian dagger held by Alicent in this trailer moment, Condal points to the scarcity of Valyrian steel, even at this time in the world's history. "It's a technology that doesn't exist anymore. Their blades are not made anew," he explains. "So all the Valyrian steel is a fixed number of assets in the world. Even in a time when Targaryens are in power, they themselves as Targaryens are not able to make Valyrian steel. So they're going to take care of it. So it's believable that something that did exist in the original show would've existed here, perhaps in a slightly different packaging."

House of the Dragon takes place 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones at a time when the Targaryen dynasty was at its height. The show plans to chronicle the events leading up to and encompassing the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that threatened to topple the once-great House Targaryen.

The Iron Throne is far more embellished in this time period than we saw it in Game of Thrones. Condal says there are also story reasons for that. "When you see our throne, it immediately communicates this is a time of great influence and wealth for the people that built this thing," he says.

Learn more about House of the Dragon, premiering on HBO this Aug. 21, in EW's cover story.

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Yes, that is the Game of Thrones catspaw dagger in House of the Dragon

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