House of the Dragon, like Game of Thrones before it, has a lot of intricate world-building. With so many little details to take in, you could be forgiven for passing some of them by. One such detail is the Small Council's orbs – but now we know their purpose.
If it passed you by in episode 1, each member of the Small Council has a small orb resting at their place at the table during meetings. But what are they for and why are they here? Set decorator Claire Nie Richards revealed all to The Hollywood Reporter. "It represented the council coming in and being part of the meeting," she said.
"Everybody shows up for work and they 'punch in,'" co-showrunner Ryan Condal added. "I thought it was really cool. It’s a way of visualizing the set formality of the Small Council chamber. It’s enjoyable; we should have things that we like in this world."
Who makes up the Small Council? It consists of King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King, and Corlys Valryon (Steve Toussaint), Master of Ships, as well as the Master of Coin (Bill Paterson), the Grand Maester (David Horovitch), the Master of Laws (Gavin Spokes), and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
House of the Dragon airs every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max, before arriving in the UK the following day. Make sure you never miss an episode with our House of the Dragon release schedule.
