House of the Dragon 3 work was surreal, says Welsh blacksmith

“I read Game of Thrones when I was younger growing up in the mountains,” Aaron said.

“When the show came out I enjoyed the sense of realism that they put into it.

“It always captivated me that they would do things a bit differently.”

The weapons for House of the Dragon are made in Hertfordshire.

But the on-set armoury team had a key role to play, working out of the back of a truck with buckets crammed with up to 50 swords.

“I was like a kid in a candy shop,” Aaron said.

Actors are filmed with swords made of plastic, aluminium or steel depending on the scene, and Aaron also made sure background extras had the right sword on them when they moved closer into shot.

“Knowing what swords look like in real life helped quite a lot,” he said.

Steel swords can be used for close-up shots, Aaron said, while a lighter aluminium version is used when sword actors are walking around.

“If they’re doing something a bit more active – maybe they’re walking over dangerous terrain or they’re going to be fighting with it – then they get the synthetic version, which is a cast polyurethane one which has to be painted to look as close to the original as possible,” he added.

For stunts involving falls and rolls, the actors use a rubber version which is completely flexible.

“The director likes to really experiment with different things and change the shot slightly, and we have to be right there to change the sword,” he said.

For the third series he was also tasked to make a collection of daggers which was used on set.