For the story it needs to tell, George RR Martin says House of the Dragon could take 4 seasons to fully deliver it through HBO. The current Game of Thrones spin-off series is doing well in keeping viewers interested. Even though the series got a bit of unfavorable reactions to its time jumps and actor changes, viewers still appreciate the series. The latest episode itself generated much praise saying actors can expect nominations from the Emmy’s soon.
Author and world creator George R.R. Martin shared his insights to the ongoing series through his ‘not a blog’. There, he also expresses his own impression to the actors’ performances, saying:
…I do want to commend Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik and the cast and crew for the work they’ve done. Sunday’s episode, “Lord of the Tides,” was everything I hoped it should be. Kudos to Eileen Shim, the scriptwriter, to Geeta Patel, the director, to our incredible cast… and particularly to Paddy Considine, for his portrayal of King Viserys, the First of His Name.
George RR Martin Thinks House Of The Dragon Can Take 4 Seasons
Image: HBO
G.R.R. Martin continues to praise Paddy Considine in his portrayal as he said:
The character he created (with Ryan and Sara and Ti and the rest of our writers) for the show is so much more powerful and tragic and fully fleshed than my own version in FIRE & BLOOD that I am half tempted to go back and rip up those chapters and rewrite the whole history of his reign. Paddy deserves an Emmy for this episode alone. If he doesn’t get one, hey, there’s no justice.
Martin says that Ryan J. Condal, the series showrunner and writer, and his team handled the time jumps well. Furthermore, he highly commends the young and adult actors of Alicent and Rhaenyra. He writes:
I think Ryan has handled the “jumps” very well, and I love love love both the younger Alicent and Rhaenyra and the adult versions, and the actresses who play them. (Truth be told, we have an incredible cast, and I love all of them).
About what he wished they could have included in the season, he writes:
Do I wish we’d had more time to explore the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin, the marriage of Daemon and Laena and their time in Pentos, the birth of various and sundry children (and YES, Alicent gave Viserys four children, three sons and a daughter, their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season), and everything else we had to skip? Sure.
George RR Martin Thinks House Of The Dragon Can Take 4 Seasons
Image: HBO
Nevertheless, due to the length of time they were given, they had to take the necessary steps to keep the episode number to ten. In fact, he says the story is in a good pace in its delivery. Martin also says House Of The Dragon would need four full seasons to complete the Dance of Dragons. Which is the momentous War of Succession that happens between Rhaenyra and Aegon II after King Viserys I died. Martin wrote:
If HOUSE OF THE DRAGON had 13 episodes per season, maybe we could have shown all the things we had to “time jump” over… though that would have risked having some viewers complain that the show was too “slow,” that “nothing happened.” As it is, I am thrilled that we still have 10 hours every season to tell our tale.
…I hope that will continue to be true. It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish.
However, the author has time and again mentioned about his busy schedule and how work is piling up. G.R.R. Martin emphasizes:
But right now, Ryan Condal’s focus is on HOTD season two, and mine is on THE WINDS OF WINTER.
Please do finish the novel sir. Fans have really been waiting for decades. Literally. Catch HBO’s House of the Dragon every Sunday starring Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy and many more. Its penultimate episode comes October 16 entitled The Green Council with its season finale The Black Queen on October 23.
