House of the Dragon needs to run “for four full seasons” to do its story justice, according to creator George R.R. Martin. HBO’s prequel to Game of Thrones is nearing the end of its first season, and has covered a lot of ground in its first eight episodes.
The epic fantasy series takes place 200 years before its predecessor and is based on parts of George’s novel, Fire & Blood, and leads up to the Targaryen civil war - known as the Dance of the Dragons. George previously stated the whole Dragons timeline will span 28 years, and its first series has employed the use of several time jumps to tell its story efficiently as it follows the Targaryen family through different parts of their lives.
It remains to be seen where in the timeline the current series will leave viewers after its final episode, but according to the author, if the series continues at its current pace it will need to last “for four full seasons of 10 episodes each” to do justice to the whole Dragons saga.
READ MORE: Bonfire Night is CANCELLED across Manchester parks as council blames "escalating costs"
Writing in his blog, he said: “The Sopranos had 13 episodes per season, but just a few years later, Game of Thrones had only 10 (and not even that, those last two seasons). 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’.
“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.”
The author added he was “thrilled” the series was given a 10-episode run to tell its story, comparing it to Lord of the Rings prequel Rings of Power’s eight episodes and his AMC series Dark Winds and its six-episode run. George also gave his verdict on House of the Dragon’s controversial time jumps, after some viewers took to Twitter to criticise them as “a disaster for the storytelling,” saying they “can barely keep up” with the actor changes.
George feels the show’s creator Ryan Condal has “handled [them] very well,” and says he “loves both the younger Alicent and Rhaenyra and the adult versions, and the actresses who play them.”
In the first five episodes of the series, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen was played by Australian actress Milly Alcock, before being replaced by Emma D’Arcy to play the princess in her adult years. Similarly, Emily Carey played a young Alicent Hightower before being replaced by Oldham’s Olivia Cooke for the remainder of the series.
House of the Dragon airs on Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
Read next:
- Inside Will Mellor's family cafe in Romiley where villagers are cheering on Strictly star
- The 1975 frontman Matty Healy mobbed by fans on Manchester walkabout
- Man City star's wife isn't impressed with Manchester's restaurants
- Stockport sweeps the board at Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards
- The secret cake outlet shop with cut-price caterpillar cakes, brownies, flapjacks and all sorts
