While it seemed like the Game of Thrones finale had ruined HBO’s chances of turning this story into a multi-branching franchise with spinoffs and side projects aplenty, the successful premiere of House of the Dragon has reinvigorated Westeros in the public eye, and with little more to go on than the first half-season, most fans are ready to proclaim the prequel as a worthy successor to the masterpiece that was the first three seasons of the original series.
But despite that, there were certain things George R.R. Martin didn’t like about Game of Thrones, things that House is seemingly amending now. And taking on this huge legacy was no walk in the park for the folks involved, among them Milly Alcock (Rhaenyra Targaryen), who recently talked about her experience joining this intimidatingly beloved fictional world. We have all of this and more for you in today’s roundup of Game of Thrones news. So, without further ado, check them out by reading ahead below.
A royal wedding and an aggressive tussle in the Red Keep in episode 5’s trailer
So far, we’ve had an epic battle sequence and a lot of other intense back-and-forths between the powerful in Viserys Targaryen’s reign, but tensions will reach an all-time high during this week’s fifth episode. Don’t just take out word for it, though, the new trailer reveals plenty of action and even more confrontations, and perhaps the silver lining is that all of this will happen under the pretext of a royal wedding. A classic Game of Thrones outing, eh? But let’s hope that it ends on happier notes than Joffrey’s union with Margaery Tyrell.
Milly Alcock thought she’d be fired from ‘House’ in those early months
Everyone loves Milly Alcock as a young Rhaenyra, but could HBO have known that the actress would do such a wonderful job of portraying the Targaryen princess when they cast her all those years ago? The fear is something that the actress herself retained. Even having bagged the role, Alcock constantly feared that she’d get fired for the first two or three months on set. It can be an intimidating experience, walking into a franchise as popular as Game of Thrones, but it seems that the breakthrough star can more than hold her own. It’s just a shame that despite all the acclaim she’s received, we have to say goodbye to her perhaps as early as the sixth episode.
‘House’ fixes a major problem Martin had with ‘Game of Thrones’
All across history, hunting has been a prominent pastime of kings and monarchs, though the way it was depicted in the original Game of Thrones season — with Robert Baratheon meandering through the woods with a few bodyguards and his Lannister squire — must have made George R.R. Martin wince in disgust. He can be a bit of a sucker for historical details, after all, and it’s well documented that every time a king went out to hunt, there’d be a royal procession like the one we saw in House of the Dragon to accompany him. So, let’s just say we’re glad Ryan Condal’s team finally fixed that erroneous depiction. For all we know, it might even have been at Martin’s behest.
Regretfully, that’s all there is for today, but be sure to tune in tomorrow at the same hour for more updates on Westeros and its spiraling new adaptation.
