HBO’s House of the Dragon is a spinoff of Game of Thrones, which is also based on George R.R. Martin’s books about the civil war within the House Targaryen for the Iron Throne. This war between family members and dragons saw countless people massacred, dragons killed, and treaties broken. It takes place over two centuries before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. With such an exciting plot, it’s no surprise House of the Dragon was one of the best 2022 series.
House of the Dragon Season 2 is scheduled to air on Max in 2024 and promises more fights, chaos, and giant dragons than the first season. With the teaser trailer of HOTD already out, fans eagerly wait to see Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon take revenge for the death of their son. But that won’t be the end of their story, with co-creator Martin confirming that the series will likely have four seasons to adapt the book’s rich story to TV perfectly from the beginning to the end.
The Source Material Can Better Be Told in 4 Seasons of House of The Dragon
When fans get addicted to their new favorite show, the last thing they want to hear is that it’s getting canceled or has only been renewed for a handful of seasons. But fewer seasons aren’t always a bad thing. They allow writers and creators to create a masterpiece without the pressure of pointless storylines that stray from their original plot. The House of the Dragon series is a prequel spinoff of Game of Thrones but based on Martin’s Fire & Blood book. This book focuses on what happened to the Targaryen reign and explores the Dance of the Dragons.
Creator George R.R. Martin was recently in a long discussion with HBO executives during a visit to the HOTD set. With Martin being the show’s creator and executive producer, his word is to be trusted. In terms of story decisions, Martin said in his blog, “It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do Justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish”. He also revealed that the third and fourth seasons of HOTD were discussed, although two days weren’t enough to cover all the work ahead of them.
While earlier time jumps caused some stir among fans, Martin said this was the best decision because fans would also complain that nothing was happening. After all, the story would be much slower. Trying to tell a detailed story in only ten episodes can be challenging. Still, with Martin as part of the production, fans can relax knowing he won’t leave out any critical storylines even though these characters could have more stories to tell if, according to Martin, their stories can be completed in four seasons, it’s better than working without a reference. Fans saw how that panned out with another of Martin’s book to TV adaptation, and it wasn’t great.
Fewer Seasons Are Better to Prevent Going the Game of Thrones Route
Many iconic series usually end in a rut, with fans wishing the creators could have stuck to fewer seasons by concluding the story perfectly. TV shows like Game of Thrones should have ended where the books ended. Still, due to the high demand and the fact Martin has not completed the book series, the TV show creators and executive producers David Benioff and D.B Weiss got creative about this iconic story’s ending, much to fans’ dismay. Some GOT fans even petition for the last season to be remade after Martin finishes the book series. The Game of Thrones team also kept Martin out of the loop, which could be why the series started looking very different from the books from season 6.
The HOTD team should keep Martin in the loop regarding script writing and shooting the series if it doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as Game of Thrones. With four seasons, HOTD can tell the story of the Dance of Dragons without wasting time or adding pointless filler episodes. While gone are the days when fans would enjoy 24 episodes per season, shorter formats can allow creators to tell the story they want in the best way they know how. Four seasons will allow HBO to focus on other Game of Thrones spinoffs in the next couple of years once HOTD is complete. It is better to have more stories focused on different aspects, timelines, and characters in Martin’s fantasy world than just one that will span years.
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