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How did the huge dragon skulls get placed in the dungeon of the Red Keep? In the TV series (Season 1) I didn't see any door large enough to accommodate them.

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  • I don't know if there's any canon material that suggests whether the skulls were put there after Red Keep was already built of if they could have been put in during construction, but if it's the latter then they could have been placed in the dungeon before the ceiling was built.
    – Hypnosifl
    Apr 28, 2014 at 17:18
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    @Hypnosifl - no, they are originally in the throne room until Robert ascends to the throne. But frankly, do we really see enough of the dungeon in the TV series to rule out doors being the answer here? Apr 28, 2014 at 18:00
  • I don't remember seeing any skulls at all in the TV-show. Which episode was this?
    – TLP
    Apr 28, 2014 at 19:28
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    It was episode 5 "the wolf and the lion", where Arya chases a cat into the dungeon, then hides in a skull as she overhears two men plotting against her father. Apr 29, 2014 at 1:56
  • How did the huge dragon skulls get placed in the dungeon of the Red Keep? Very carefully. Aug 22, 2017 at 12:10

4 Answers 4

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In universe, IIRC from the books, the skulls used to be in the Throne Room. They were moved into the dungeon after Robert became king.

Out of universe, in the show the set designers probably simply did not think of having a sufficiently large door.

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When I moved out of my last house, I had to take my couch out through the living room window (double hung). Basically, I don't think it would be a stretch of the imagination for the servants of the Red Keep to move the skulls into the dungeon following orders from King Robert Baratheon, by opening a section of wall or floor large enough to do the job. In fact, this sort of seems a bit more like Robert's style; heavy handed and gratifyingly disrespectful to the Targaryens.

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  • In regards to being gratifyingly disrespectful, it seems more likely that Robert would have thrown the thing out rather than spend effort tearing down and rebuilding a wall just so he can keep it, but out of sight.
    – Flater
    Aug 22, 2017 at 10:40
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There are many gaps in your assumptions.

  1. Just because we did not see the door, does not mean it does not exist.
  2. Even if no door exists, the skull is possibly a uniquely large object. Doors can be temporarily widened (or sections of wall removed) to accommodate the large skull.
  3. Robert wanted the skull out of the throne room. There has been no mention of him wanting to keep it. It stands to reason that the dungeon was the easiest place to move it to without Robert having to see it. Thus, it must logically have been easy to bring the skull there. If it required an extraordinary effort, Robert could likely have thrown the thing outside because it was too much hassle (unless someone else really wanted to keep it, e.g. Pycell or a random Targaryen sympathiser)
  4. Qyburn managed to get his ballista down there too, so it stands to reason that there's a door at least big enough to move the ballista. I doubt that they would've taken it apart and reconstructed it (though it is possible). This is somewhat evidenced by the ballista later being transported in one piece (when Bronn uses it on Drogon). It does have foldable arms (the big bow arms) for storage purposes, so it seems to have been built with the intention of keeping it in one piece.
  5. You're forgetting about the existence of ceiling doors. We have not seen the ceiling in the dungeon. Assuming that it is customary to store large objects in the dungeon, it makes perfect sense to use a ceiling door, which allows you to use a crane or winch to bring objects up/down.

I'm a big fan of the ceiling door option. It makes a lot of sense, both as to why the Red Keep would have one (using a crane for logistical ease of transportation, similar to how a boat's cargo is loaded) and why we didn't see it.

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The dungeon in the Red Keep would have to be, in theory, big enough to hold giants since not only do they exist in the canon but are known to be quite troublesome.

So there surely had to be a door big enough for the skulls. As for carrying it, giants again.

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    There had been no sightings or mentions of giants south of the Wall for hundreds, if not, thousands of years.
    – Möoz
    Aug 21, 2017 at 21:57
  • Also, since Robert is the one who had the skulls removed, that would requires giants to work for Robert, which was 20-odd years ago? People in the South think of giants as myths, which would not be the case if the king employed giants less than a lifetime ago.
    – Flater
    Aug 22, 2017 at 10:45

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