House Of The Dragon's Table Balls Are My Favorite Bit Of World-Building
House of the Dragon is a return to the world of Westeros which means that much of its world-building is familiar for fans of Game of Thrones. An exposition card at the beginning of the premiere references how distant the show's era is from the birth of Daenerys Targaryen — 172 years, if you're keeping track. Nearly two centuries before the A Song of Ice and Fire saga would begin, the Targaryens are uniformly blond and bonded with dragons, the Starks are in the north, and King's Landing is Westeros' capitol city. So far, so familiar.
But then House of the Dragon threw out a seemingly small world-building detail that was entirely new and captivating. During a meeting of King Viserys' small council, each council member placed an orb into a disc with black brackets and a divot in front of them as they arrived. This seems straightforward enough: the ball is a symbol of their presence.
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But, after a meeting in which he is at odds with the rest of the council for his violent attack on alleged criminals throughout the city, Daemon Targaryen leaves the meeting early. When we cut back to the meeting, his orb is still in the divot where he sat. This, also, seems straightforward: Daemon feels he is above the rules governing the small council in the same way he believes himself to be above the law governing citizens of Westeros.
This is called into question, though, when King Viserys also leaves his orb behind when he exits a council meeting. It could be that Viserys, angry with his council for bickering over his potential heir on the same day he lost his wife and child, has no time for formality. Still, on the only occasions House of the Dragon shows
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