For eight years, Game of Thrones viewers have been captivated by the rotating astrolabe, the detailed geography, and the mechanical forts of the show’s title sequence. But when the first episode of the new season aired last week, viewers were presented with a new vision of the intro–a completely redesigned animation, echoing the anticipation surrounding the show’s final season.

The sequence provided a new look at a world that fans know very well: The camera swoops down from the north, passing through the shattered wall, and advancing along the perspective of the White Walkers. Then, it takes you through the northern fort Last Hearth, which is referenced in the first episode, before arriving at Winterfell. You zoom through the Northern fortresses’ rooms and through the crypt below, before flying south to the Red Keep, where the animation finally ends with the throne of swords.

The new intro is the result of years of planning. In June 2017, the showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss went to Elastic, the animation studio that has created the show’s intro credits since the beginning, with an exciting proposition: They wanted a brand-new title sequence for Game of Thrones’s last season. But they also wanted something different: a look inside the buildings that are the most important locations for all the action, namely the Red Keep and Winterfell.

“Because we were going inside, it forced us to rethink everything,” says Kirk Shintani, the head of computer graphics at Elastic. “We threw everything out. Everything is brand new.”



Keep it simple, and don’t listen to the theme music

By August 2018, Elastic had received a long list of locations to include, both interior and exterior, courtesy of the showrunners–plus concept art, production photos, and other materials from the production team for reference. The studio’s concept artists reinterpreted all that material in the stylistic signature of the show’s intro–making each animated building feel like it has its own life, rather than acting as a perfect model of the real set.

Shintani says that all of the animators working on the Game of Thrones sequences, whether they’re new or experienced, go through the same rite of passage: They completely overdo the animation by adding as many details and flashy elements as possible, before realizing that the design needs to be simpler. It’s an exercise that actually helps unify the team–and the end product–stylistically.

Another trick the team at Elastic uses during its creative process? Not playing that iconic theme music while watching their animations. “Adding music is a cheat because it gives everything that much more grandeur,” says Angus Wall, creative director at Elastic. “So we would always save watching it with music for special viewings.”