House of the Dragon is the first spinoff of Game of Thrones and, with that, inherits the legacy of the mess that was the show’s final seasons, which got head of where the story last left off in George R.R. Martin’s books. While the network has been good about not publicly joining the pile-on against showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the latest featurette for the upcoming series very much focused on loyalty to the books.
George R.R. Martin, who is listed as a creator in this new series, spoke with confidence about the possibilities of House of the Dragon and the creative team behind it.
“I’m excited. It’s always a little apprehensive when you turn your baby over to foster parents, but I’m involved in this. It is great to have Ryan, whose a great writer, and someone who really knew my world. He’s gonna do his best to remain faithful to it. I knew Miguel Sapochnik was an amazing director. He’d won an Emmy, he’d done some of our best episodes,” he chuckled. “I think I’m in good hands with Ryan and Miguel.”
Miguel Sapochnik, showrunner for House of Dragon, says returning to the show started by “respecting” the legacy and impact of the show and source material. “You can’t start by doing different for different’s sake.”
“George’s work really is a truly immersive world,” says Ryan J. Condal, co-showrunner and co-creator. “There’s unexplored deep recesses and thousands of years of history.”
Sapochnik adds that this new venture is about about “realizing what worked in Thrones and what didn’t. What do we want to better? What do we want to evolve?”
House of Dragon will take place during the height of House Targaryen as the ruling power in Westeros. It will depict the Civil War within the house that takes place after a succession crisis pits two factions of the family against each other. We know from the show that Westeros has never had a female ruler, and this series will be part of the discussion as to why.
I am excited for House of the Dragon because it is basically going to be The Anarchy, but with dragons, and since this is the closest we might get to an Empress Matilda series with a good budget, I’ll be tuning in. We see from the beginning that this will be a more diverse show than ever before, and I’m excited about the possibilities.
The series is scheduled to premiere on August 21, 2022, and its first season will consist of ten episodes. We will see what lessons have been learned.
(featured image: HBO)
