House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal defines the series as a story centered on generational war. It’s set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, and one of the things it’s doing differently is telling a story that reveals what happened in the past.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Condal shared how they’re telling the prequel series and what they hope to accomplish.
“This is how you tell this story correctly. We’re telling a story of a generational war. We set everything up so by the time that first sword stroke falls, you understand all the players.”
The main plot stems from the relationship between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) who begin as childhood friends. When Alicent marries Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) it complicates things. Viserys leaves the throne to his daughter, but Alicent wants it for her son and a war for the throne erupts as a result.
One of the differences in telling House of the Dragon as opposed to GOT is that it will show Rhaenyra and Alicent’s friendship for an extended period of time. The first half of the season will see younger actors (Emily Carey and Milly Alcock) in the roles of Rhaenyra and Alicent respectively, then halfway through the 10-episode season, the story time jumps 10 years.
The male leads, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen and Considine’s Viserys will be played by the same actors throughout, and there will be more multiyear time jumps throughout the season. This differs greatly from GOT, which only implemented flashbacks during specific times, like when Bran merged into Hodor and saw his past, and when a young Ned Stark fought and killed Ser Gerold Hightower at the Tower of Joy.
Condal opted to make this decision that’s mostly in line with author George R.R. Martin’s source material, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any risk involved. There were concerns from HBO, and HBO Max content chief Casey Bloys says that this could make the show more difficult to pull off. “It made me nervous because it’s hard enough to cast any role,” said Bloys, “but if you’re casting two characters of different ages, you have to be right four times. Now that I’ve seen the result, I feel really good about it.”
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO Aug. 21.
