Which eras could ‘House of the Dragon’ cover after the Dance of the Dragons?

One of HBO’s biggest fantasy worlds came back to life with the first season of House of the Dragon which debuted in 2022. A spinoff of Game of Thrones, HOTD is set hundreds of years before its eight-season predecessor and follows the events after the death of King Jaehaerys Targaryen who was dubbed “The Old King.” Like Game of Thrones, it is also adapted from a book by author George R.R. Martin, this time being Fire and Blood.

Fire and Blood is mostly focused on House Targaryen. Except, instead of following one family member, it is more of a fictionalized history of the House, from Aegon’s Conquest until a while after the Dance of the Dragons that HOTD adapts. There is also a second book in development that Martin has stated will be one of his focuses after The Winds of Winter. That second book will continue up until Robert’s Rebellion, which is the event that kicks off Game of Thrones.

With that being said, the Dance of the Dragons only lasted for a period of three years. The show probably has roughly three to five seasons of material to work with. We know that there are other series set in the world of Westeros that were in development, but these are up in the air following the 2022 HBO Max shuffle. As the name of the show is House of the Dragon, it could easily follow other Targaryens as the book did. 

If the series does become an anthology series akin to Fargo, True Detective, or White Lotus, here are nine different eras that it could cover. It should be noted that we will be doing our very best to not spoil things from anything that HOTD may cover regarding the Dance of the Dragons, such as who becomes King or Queen once all the fighting is finished. 

Robert’s Rebellion

This might be the most obvious route for House of the Dragon to take, seeing as fans of Game of Thrones would be able to pick up the characters much quicker than they would for the other options. Robert’s Rebellion is the name given to the rebellion that ended the Targaryen dynasty, paving the way for Robert Baratheon to become king. 

There are a few Targaryens that this era could focus on, particularly Aerys, also known as “the Mad King,” who was killed by a member of his Kingsguard, Jamie Lannister, as well as his eldest son Rhaegar, who died at the hands of Robert Baratheon. In this period of time, Tywin Lannister was the Hand of the King, while Rhaegar was accused of abducting Lyanna Stark when really the pair were married, and Lyanna had a child before she died in childbirth. 

Jon Snow

Following the last entry, Jon Snow would also be a fine character to feature, especially as a series following Kit Harrington’s character was one of the shows reported to be in development. Of course, this would only happen if the Jon Snow series was no longer going forward, which is pure speculation. Jon’s birth name is Aegon Targaryen, as he is the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar. A series following his character would pick up after he was exiled to the Wall at the end of Game of Thrones, and would hopefully see him and his dire wolf, Ghost, navigate North of the Wall.

Aegon’s Conquest

This might be the most requested time period that fans want to see in a live-action adaptation. Aegon’s Conquest sees King Aegon Targaryen take control of Westeros along with his two sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys. They sat upon their three dragons, Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, who is in House of the Dragon. Fans of the books would kill to see Balerion the Black Dread, the largest dragon in Westeros, in live action.

As you can imagine, three Targaryens setting up shop in a land that did not previously have dragons resulted in quite a fiery and bloody mess, so this would be perfect for a season or two. There are plenty of battles and new relationships that could be explored, which would make for a compelling show. This would also be the first time that we see the people of Westeros be truly afraid of dragons, more so than they were in Game of Thrones. 

Maegor the Cruel

The worst of the Targaryen Kings, House of the Dragon could bring in Maegor the Cruel, son of Aegon the Conqueror. Maegor’s story is easily one of the darkest stories in Westerosi history, complete with kin slaying, dragons, and dark magic. Maegor was the ruler that future kings used as an example of what not to be. He also fought many battles, including ones against the Faith Militant, which were similar to those we saw take over King’s Landing during Game of Thrones. Maegor was one of the riders of Balerion the Black Dread.

The Reign of King Jaehaerys

The king before King Viserys in House of the Dragon, King Jaehaerys was known as the Old King because he ruled for 55 years. Of course, 55 years would be too much for a season or two of a series, and it might even prove to be too much for a show. His long life was not too eventful, ruling well and bringing relative peace to the land after the depravity of King Maegor.

The most interesting thing about Jaehaerys also happens to be the most tragic, as evidenced in House of the Dragon. He had many children with his wife, Queen Alysanne, a total of 13, but most of them died before him, and the rest were estranged from him. This unfortunately set the Dance of the Dragons in motion. Most of his children are interesting, and briefly showing parts of his reign could work well as an anthology season.

Old Valyria

We have never gotten much backstory about Old Valyria after the Targaryens migrated to Westeros. We know that the Doom overcame the territory, but it would be interesting to see exactly what happened. If you are a Superman fan at all, it would be similar to if we were to spend a season on Krypton before it exploded. 

With that being said, certain characters were said to have voyaged to Old Valyria so we could get an anthology of people visiting the area post-doom. The reason this would be compelling is that it would be uncharted territory as far as the source material is concerned. A brand new story with Old Valyria and all the creatures that are rumored to be dwelling there could be very interesting. They’d even have the chance to bring back the horror element that has been missing from House of the Dragon.

Aemon the Dragonknight

A season or two following the tales of Prince Aemon Targaryen, the Dragonknight, would also prove to be quite enthralling. While we don’t know much about him, as his life story is set after the events of Fire and Blood, we know through stories told by other characters that he was one of the finest knights of the realm. 

We don’t really get many stories throughout Westeros’s history about knights who were noble, and Aemon is perhaps the noblest of all the knights. He was a member of the Kingsguard and was made Lord Commander, serving five kings and defending them against assassins. He was also one of the main knights that fought in the invasion of Dorne, so that event in itself could be a story worth adapting into a season. 

The Blackfyre Rebellions

While some storylines are requested by fans more than others, the Blackfyre Rebellions lend themselves to a serialized format. It would spoil the story to explain everything, but essentially one of the kings following the Dance of the Dragons, King Aegon IV, sired many children, mostly bastards.

After he legitimized one of these children by granting him Blackfyre, the Valyrian sword wielded by Aegon the Conqueror, the bastard children were all legitimized. One of them, Daemon Waters, who was renamed Daemon Blackfyre because of his father’s gift, rose up and claimed his right to the Iron Throne, starting the First Blackfyre Rebellion. It was a civil war just like the Dance of the Dragons, and it split Westeros in two once again. Therefore, it would be a perfect successor to the Dance in House of the Dragon. 

Dunk and Egg

Have you ever wanted a Game of Thrones show that’s like The Mandalorian? That’s exactly what Dunk and Egg could be. Rather than coming out of Fire and Blood, Dunk and Egg were part of another book, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which collects anthology stories that follow Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and yet another Aegon Targaryen (Egg). Through events that probably shouldn’t be spoiled here, a younger Targaryen named Aegon meets a tall hedge knight called Dunk. 

The pair go on many adventures together, embroiling themselves in some risky situations while Dunk attempts to prove his worth as a knight. We’ve seen similar stories to this in the series, like when Arya Stark travels with the Hound. Only this time, it would be more of a consensual journey with a somewhat lighthearted story that Westeros rarely has. It’s also worth noting that Aegon is the brother of Aemon, the Maester who served at the Night’s Watch during Game of Thrones.

As you can see, there are many possibilities for live-action adaptations of works set in George R.R. Martin’s world of Westeros. For now, we will have to keep enjoying House of the Dragon and hope the filmmakers adapt some of these other stories on HBO as well. 

You can binge the entire first season of House of the Dragon on HBO Max while you wait for the eventual release of season two, which is expected sometime in 2024.