“House of the Dragon”: the scandalous story of the creation of the prequel “Game of Thrones”

An idea meets a wall of misunderstanding

Even before the premiere of the final series of Game of Thrones in 2019, HBO was thinking about creating other projects in the Martin universe. The show’s ratings were still all-time highs, despite the lukewarm response from fans towards the latest episodes. The producers could not miss the opportunity to turn one popular series into their own cinematic universe.

The creator of the original books, George R. R. Martin, was also not opposed to seeing new adaptations of his works. Moreover, he really liked the series of Benioff and Weiss. Then, his first novel since 2010, Fire and Blood, had long been lying on the shelves of bookstores. In 2018, the writer began hinting that he was working with HBO on a new project in the same universe.

However, not everything in development went as smoothly as it might seem at first glance. Big Hollywood producers were afraid that because the new story would not have old familiar characters, it would not become as popular. Studio bosses wanted to see something closer to the original, for example, a series about Jon Snow or Arya Stark. Original series writer Bryan Cogman held several lengthy presentations in an attempt to convince them to give the project a green light, but to no avail. Due to failures in this field, he even had to leave the project.

It wasn’t until September 2019 that the show finally entered development with a bang. The series was originally going to be called “Dance of the Dragons”, but the name was later changed to “House of the Dragon” as it better reflected the essence of the story. That being said, it’s interesting that the pandemic hasn’t had much of an impact on HBO’s plans to release the show in 2022. But some films and series in the ill-fated 2020 were postponed for a whole year and even more! Filming, as in the case of Game of Thrones, took place on the rocky shores of Great Britain and Spain.

Who is working on the “House of the Dragon”

Miguel Sapochnik has been named showrunner and director of the Game of Thrones prequel. He may be known to viewers for his films Finch with Tom Hanks, Rippers with Jude Law, and Marvel’s Iron Fist series.

For the universe of Westeros, Sapochnik is also not a stranger at all. He managed to work on several episodes of the original series, and his episodes received some of the best fan reviews in the entire broadcast of the show. We are talking about the famous “Battle of the Bastards” (season 6, episode 9) and “Winds of Winter” (season 6, episode 10). In the first, one could see a large-scale battle between the troops of John Snow and Ramsey Bolton. And the second series was remembered as one of the most tragic in the entire series, because it was in it that Cersei blew up the capital’s sept of Baelor, killing many characters beloved by the audience.

Sapochnik himself is convinced that the “House of the Dragon” should become a new round of evolution for the world of Westeros compared to the “Game of Thrones”: “It’s not the same story, it’s not the same characters. Therefore, the series had to take a big step in terms of the evolution of the script, visual style and storytelling. But at the same time, we understand that people want to see Game of Thrones, and we must not disappoint them.”

The second showrunner, you can say the second person in the whole team, was Ryan Kondal. Ryan, too, was taken off the street, because he is not only a huge fan of the original books and series, but also a longtime friend of Martin himself. Therefore, on the set, he was responsible for everything related to the fidelity of the plot of the “House of the Dragon” to the original source. Moreover, it was Kondal who became one of the first enthusiasts in creating a prequel and an ideological leader for the entire team in those days when they tried to break through the blank wall of producer misunderstanding.

About his brainchild, Ryan says: “You will see the history of this dark kingdom and the dangers that lurk behind the deceptive image of the stability of the Targaryen era. This is the beginning of an era of decline. That Daenerys will later end up in Essos begging for clothes and shelter from passers-by on the streets is a consequence of the events we are about to recount.”

Who will play in the “House of the Dragon”

Casting for the lead roles in the series began in 2020. Of course, for such a large project, the creators considered the stars of the first magnitude, which did not make their choice any easier. As a result, a fairly good composition was obtained, in which one can find both relatively fresh faces for a big movie, and well-known ones.

Previously, wethey also talked about which sides will converge in the story about the struggle for the Iron throne. Now let’s see who will embody them on the screen.

The wise King Viserys I will be played by British cinematographer Paddy Considine. In Europe, Paddy is known not only as a talented actor, but also as a promising director of short films. Many may know him from the thrillers The Wolf and The Outsider.

The role of the wayward Prince Damon Targaryen went to Matt Smith, who became famous for his role as the eleventh Doctor Who in the long-running series of the same name. Smith had an interesting little scandal during the show’s promotional campaign. In one interview, he suddenly stated that the creators added too many love scenes to the House of the Dragon, especially for Damon. Fans immediately began to wonder if the series had been turned into pornography.

Two actresses will embody the beautiful Princess Rainier on the screen at once: Emma D’Arcy will play her adult version, and Millie Alcock – the young one. Moreover, both of them are relatively unknown actresses with a small baggage of roles behind them. Alcock can only be known from the series “Piano”, and D’Arcy remains a dark horse for everyone.

Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans will play representatives of the insidious Hightower family, Alicent and Otto. Olivia is the star of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Ready Player One, in which she played the role of Samantha’s girlfriend. Ivans, in principle, is known as one of the best masters of the second plan in cinema. Masterful work with his appearance of a poor madman has repeatedly brought him praise from the most severe critics.

And the last on our list is the formidable navigator Corlis Velarion. They will be the African-American actor Steve Toussaint in the series. It was precisely because of Toussaint’s participation in the fan community that a well-known scandal began: fans of the saga believed that all representatives of the ancient Velarion dynasty were going to be made black. But then Martin stood up for the creators of the series, saying that he himself was going to make them like that. After all, they are aliens from another continent, who, logically, should look different from the inhabitants of Westeros.

What they write about the first series of critics

In early August, the world’s largest publications were given the opportunity to watch the first episode of the prequel at a closed presentation. Judging by the short reviews after the show, critics liked the show.

Many of them called it a worthy successor to Game of Thrones. Even for those who found the finale of the original series boring, they noted that now the history of the Targaryens resembles its predecessor in his best years. Therefore, the first season, most likely, will be excellent. At the same time, the pilot episode did a very good job of setting the context for everything that is happening, explaining the motivation of the parties and characters, and setting the right atmosphere for an epic struggle for power. Even for those who are not familiar with the Westeros universe, the show may well still be to their liking.

At the same time, it must be said that at least the first series very clearly tried to put pressure on nostalgia for the original, which not all authors approved of. Some wrote that some of the plot moves seemed heresy to them, although this had little effect on the overall impression.