One of the factors which made
George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” books, and their HBO series
adaptation “Game of Thrones,” so memorable and alive to readers/viewers was the
amount of world-building backstory for the ongoing present-day events. Much
like J.R.R. Tolkien did with Middle-earth in “The Lord of the Rings,” Martin
wrote detailed lore and historical events in the past that shaped the setting
of his story as it happened. Sometimes the extra books he wrote for this even got
in the way of finishing “ASOIAF.” At least however, his side-story book “Fire
and Blood” is being turned into a new HBO series, starting production soon.
According to Deadline, HBO will commence production of “House of the Dragon,” a
prequel series to “Game of Thrones,” this coming April. The month recently was
pegged down by HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys. The 10-episode
prequel story to “GOT” was ordered direct to series back in late 2019, with
casting ongoing in 2020 during the worst of the COVID pandemic. Original author
George R.R. Martin is again on board as executive producer alongside Ryan
Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, the new show-runners. As with its predecessor,
much shooting will necessarily be done overseas.
Bloys, who is waiting for a COVID
vaccination before setting out to examine the set for “Dragon,” says the whole production
team is excited for Condal and Sapochnik to oversee the show adding, “That’s
all moving ahead and we are excited about that.” He also reassures fans of “GOT,”
who were disappointed that the show-runners Dave Benioff and D.B. Weiss wrote
an original ending rather than wait for Martin to complete his books, by saying
that the prequel nature of the new series ensures that its entire story is
already told, as in the source book written by Martin, “Fire and Blood” published
in 2018.
Not much is known yet about how “House
of the Dragon” will go, but confirmed character castings shed light on which
parts of Westeros history it will cover. The general plot follows the history
of the Royal House of Targaryen, which created the Iron Throne after conquering
the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros nearly three centuries before the start of “Game
of Thrones.” Paddy Constantine plays King Viserys I, whose reign sowed the
seeds for a civil war between Targaryen family members; Olivia Cooke is Queen
Alicent Hightower, Viserys’ second wife; Emma D’Arcy is Viserys’ daughter Princess
Rhaenyra; and Matt Smith portrays Viserys’ brother Daemon. The series will
premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.
Image from The Verge
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