George RR Martin, the author of A Song of Ice & Fire, the source material for Game of Thrones, as well as Fire & Blood (the inspiration for House of the Dragon), has spoken about how the first series ended too soon, and he now says that if it were up to him, there would have been “more time jumps and recasts.” Speaking of which, the first season of House of the Dragon kept viewers in suspense with constant time jumps throughout the series, with a significant 10-year jump recasting two of the show's most influential women, Rhaenyra and Alicent. Imagine if there were even more jumps.
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Where to start
House of the Dragon co-creator and author George RR Martin discussed in a video interview with Penguin Random House how the creative team decided to begin the series.
[‘House of the Dragon’ showrunner Ryan Condal]”One of the big problems with all of these writers was knowing where to start. It started in with the Great Council where the lords vote that Jaehaerys' heir – he just lost his son Baelon, who died of a appendicitis – so who is his heir now? And the lords vote to choose Viserys over Rhaenys.” [Episode 1]
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Other ideas to get started
One author suggested starting the series further forward in the story, with the death of King Viserys' first wife, Aemma, which was shown in unfortunate graphic detail later in the pilot episode, the beginning of the sorrows that Viserys experienced, and one of the hardest decisions he had to make, which ended in heartbreak anyway.
Another author proposed the idea of starting the series even further, with the death of King Viserys, which only occurs in the series in the eighth episode, after a difficult reign described in the previous seven episodes. We can be grateful that we got more of the story than if either of these options had been chosen.
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George R.R. Martin's plan
Martin's “favorite” idea was to start “much earlier.” If George RR Martin had gotten his way, House of the Dragon would have started over 40 years earlier, with even more time jumps and recasts than we've already seen.
I would have started 40 years earlier, with the episode I would have called “The Heir and the Saver”, in which Jaehaerys' two sons, Aemon and Baelon, are alive. And we see the friendship, but also the rivalry, between the two sides of the big house. Aemon dies accidentally when a Myrish crossbowman shoots him in Tarth and Jaehaerys must then decide who becomes the new heir.
“Is she the daughter of the eldest son who just died or the second son, who has his own sons and is a man and she is just a teenager. You would have been 40 years older and you would have still had more time jumps and you would have had even more re-castings and, yeah, I was the only one who was really excited about that.”
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Plans for Season 2
Fortunately, the series has already been renewed for a second season, and it will definitely tell the story of the rise of the Dance of Dragons, since we saw the climax build up throughout the previous season. Showrunner Ryan Condal has already promised fans that there won't be any other big or confusing time jumps or recasts.
George RR Martin has previously said that to tell the full story of Fire and Blood, House of the Dragon would need four seasons, much to the delight of fans who enjoy watching this epic tale unfold. It's not yet clear whether this will happen or not, as he previously mentioned that Game of Thrones should have had 13 or 14 seasons to tell the full potential of the story, which as we all know didn't. never been made.
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