A waiting game (of thrones)
Barlow said the installation, which took months to plan, was put on pause by a low-pressure system that made it too windy and difficult to get Vhagar on the building in time for the cast. After all, the inflatable, which was made of 1,700 total patterns, 600,000 inches of sewn seams and weighed around 1,500 lbs., required 153 rigging points, and safety was the first priority.
“The beginning of the week, we’re like, ‘OK, this is not good weather,’” Barlow said. “But the forecast said there’s a high-pressure system coming.”
It was a waiting game. Barlow called it a “day by day” situation.
Then, on the Thursday night before the premiere, the team made the call to go ahead with the plan.
“We’re like, ‘Is it time? It’s time,’” Barlow explained.
Vhagar is coming
Work started Friday at midnight, and the 10- to 12-hour job had to be split into two parts due to weather. It continued on Saturday.
“At one point, it looked like just an inflatable up there with a tarp, like work was being done,” Barlow said.
The timing worked out. A week after the Greens and King Aegon claimed the Empire State Building, Vhagar arrived on the day of the Season 2 premiere.
“There were a lot of pins and needles around it,” Barlow said. “But it was truly epic.”
Along with the dragon, HBO gave fans a royal welcome. The building was illuminated green for Aegon, an Iron Throne gave visitors photo opportunities, and attendees were the first to experience Zynga’s Game of Thrones: Legends game, which was available for pre-registration.
According to HBO, the event was a success.
In addition to a bevy of news stories about the installation and social impressions, the company said 100,000 people went through the experience at the Empire State Building. It was live for 10 days and saw an average of 10,000 to 20,000 people per day.
Barlow called the installation the “capstone” of House of the Dragon’s Season 2 campaign.
“When you think about a 270-foot, true-to-size, physical replica of the largest dragon in the show, you have to really wow people,” Barlow said, adding, “It was a first for many of us—and I’ve been doing this for quite some time—but that was truly special.”
