MOVIE NEWS – Although The House of the Dragon begins 200 years before Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin would have gone even further back in Targaryen history.

The House of Dragons has renewed interest in the Game of Thrones franchise, as it slips back into Targaryen family history many years before Daenerys and her three dragons attempt to take the Iron Throne. However, if Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin had his way, we could have seen more Targaryen history, time jumps and retellings in the HBO series.

The House of Dragons is based on Martin’s own book, Fire and Blood, which tells part of the story of the Targaryen dynasty when they ruled from the Iron Throne. Although the series begins 200 years before Game of Thrones, Martin wanted the series to start a further 40 years earlier and include an additional time jump. In an interview with Penguin Random House, Martin explained:

“One of the big problems with all the writers was where to start. [‘House of the Dragon’ showrunner Ryan Condal] started with [in episode 1] the Grand Council, where the lords vote to make Jaehaerys the heir – he’s just lost his son Baelon, who died of appendicitis – so who’s the heir now? And the lords vote to choose Viserys over Rhaenys.

I would have started about 40 years earlier, with an episode called “The Heir and the Spare”, in which Jaehaerys’ two sons, Aemon and Baelon, are still alive. And we see the friendship but also the rivalry between the two halves of the great house. You know, Aemon accidentally dies when a Myrish crossbowman accidentally shoots him on Tarth, and then Jaehaerys has to decide who the new heir will be. Should it be the daughter of the eldest son who just died, or the second son who has sons of his own and is male, and the daughter is just a teenage girl? There would have been 40 more years, and more time-jumping, and more rearranging, and yes, I was the only one who was really enthusiastic about it.”

The first season of House of Dragons spent a lot of time developing the characters because although the show is a prequel series to Game of Thrones, there are no overlapping characters due to the time difference between the two series. In the second season of the series, the intended slowness of the first season will give way to war and the kind of action that Game of Thrones fans have come to expect from the fantasy franchise. Co-showrunner Ryan Condal recently explained:

“We get to the spectacle. But we need to understand the complexity of these people before we plunge them into war. The second series is going to hit the rhythm that people expected from the middle of Game of Thrones, but we’ve earned that and viewers will feel the tragedies because we’ve put the work in”.

The first season of House of Dragons is currently streaming on HBO Max.