Westeros

Next to Royce’s sword is a design sketch for Ice. Note the very dark shading of the blade, obviously the concept artist’s approach to indicating the darker hues of Valyrian steel. The sword seems to have largely retained this form, with some differences: the ends of the guard change from half-moon shapes to something more bulbous, the hilt’s grip is of unadorned wood rather than bound with leather, and so on. Next to Ice, we can see Ned Stark’s personal sword, which is basically a miniature version of Ice, and again is changed in similar ways.

Another change is in the ricasso, the extended part of blunt steel that comes to a point in both swords. The version we’ve seen for the show has no real ricasso from what we can see, although the hilt is bulged in a more subdued way to carry some of the sense of this decorative element.

Copyright ©

HBO

Behind the Scenes