House of the Dragon is much more like a Shakespearean tragedy than Game of Thrones, says George R. R. Martin

Ever since its announcement back in 2019, House of The Dragon has been a hot topic of debate among various Game of Thrones and fantasy genre communities. Will it be as good as Game of Thrones? Will it stick to the lore? Would they ruin it like Game of Thrones Season 8? Is the prequel even necessary? Are there any other spinoffs at work? A few of those questions have been answered in the past few weeks, such as when is the release date for House of The Dragon, and a few more were explained by George R. R. Martin in the most recent episode of the Game of Thrones podcast.

Appearing in the third episode of the Official Game of Thrones podcast: House of The Dragon, Martin talked about how the prequel will be different from Game of Thrones. The very first thing he pointed out was the timeline of House of The Dragon Season 1, “The show starts in 101 AC at the Great Council, which the old king Jaehaerys has called to let the lords of the realm advise him on who should succeed to the Iron Throne after he dies. Then the [Dance of the Dragons] war itself breaks out in 129 AC. So we have basically a 28-year run just in the first season here.”

Martin then talked about how at the beginning of Game of Thrones, he had to work with David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who were far less experienced than him, and that sometimes caused troubles in production. However, that’s not the case with House of The Dragon, working with a really experienced duo, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik.

“By the time I met David Benioff and Dan Weiss and we did Game of Thrones, I was actually in the beginning of that far more experienced as a television writer than either of them. Not so much with Ryan and Miguel, they’ve both done huge amounts of television. But I think it [adds] some understanding to the process.”

“I’m interested to see how the audience is hit by the whole thing,” Martin said. “I mean, House of the Dragon is different from Game of Thrones in some significant ways. Although yes, both shows involve issues of power and who will have the Iron Throne. But House of the Dragon is much more like a Shakespearean tragedy, it’s full of gray characters who you can love or you can hate. And guys who seem to be really sons of bitches and bad guys will do heroic things, characters who seem to be good, will do awful things. Kind of like human beings.”

He further explained the difference between the stories of the two periods, “A Song of Ice and Fire is in some ways that, but in other ways it’s more traditional fantasy. I mean, I brought in the White Walkers there — the white shadows, perhaps a better term for them — and the Others, which I actually call them in the book. And they are…I don’t want to use the word evil…but they’re an inimical force that’s going to end human life as we know it…But that’s not the case with House of the Dragon.”

“House of the Dragon is very human grounded, and it’s people who were once friends coming to not be friends. It’s lust and love and power and ambition. And, you know, you slight someone and you make an enemy, and they get back at you later. All the kind of things that we really do in the real world.”

Do you agree with Martin’s analysis? Tell us in the comments below!

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