HBO’s “House of the Dragon” had the difficult task of adapting George R.R. Martin’s book “Fire & Blood” into a “Game of Thrones” prequel series – a trick because the book covers a span of 150 years.
In order to do it, showrunner Ryan Condal ended up crafting a story that spans a few decades – something that would require casting changes akin to “The Crown,” albeit partway through seasons as opposed to every two seasons.
The first of those big time jumps has happened with the cast of last night’s sixth episode seeing some core changes – notably Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke taking over the female lead roles of Rhaenyra and Alicent from Milly Alcock and Emily Carey.
Speaking with THR, Condal explains the time compression and its impact on how this first season sets up the story:
“I’m excited about the pace and the structure of the story that we’re telling in the first season. It’s very complex. It happens over a long period of time because children need to get married off and then grow up themselves and then have children of their own who grow up in order to tell the story of this generational war that is fought.
HBO gave [showrunner Miguel Sapochnik] the creative latitude to tell this incredibly complex story in a really patient and character-driven way that sets up a first season so that it launches you into one of the most famous and bloody conflicts in the history of Westeros – if not the most.”
A big part of the appeal of working on HBO, according to Condal, is that the premium cabler understands that time needs to be taken to establish characters, back story and world building before getting around to the big-scale action:
“It’s what makes this premium HBO content versus the thing we would have been forced to make at a different outlet. Most other places would not have had the patience and boldness to allow us to tell the story we’re telling. But 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 – where they are and why they are. All the history is there instead of being told to you in exposition. This way you get to see it all happen.”
Executive producer Miguel Sapochnik adds the team is confident their slow burn approach would reward fans, and there is a “real advantage to taking the time to get to know the characters because the investment is worthwhile”.
The recent ten-year jump won’t be the show’s last, with various characters to become considerably older, though the timeline is expected to slow down for the ‘Dance of the Dragons’ civil war that lore indicates only lasted around two years.
