WARNING! This article contains minor SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1!Game of Thrones failed to grant author George R.R. Martin his wish for a proper series length, but House of the Dragon can rectify this failure. HBO’s Game of Thrones was based on Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, with the TV series premiering and concluding before the books were completed. While Martin has still yet to publish the final two books, he generally knew the story’s ending, so was able to broadly guide the showrunners for the finale. Martin advised that Game of Thrones warranted at least 10 seasons to do the story justice (via WSJ), but the showrunners concluded with season 8, leading to various problems in ending the story.
Considering one of the most common criticisms of Game of Thrones season 8 was its rushed pace, House of the Dragon knows to heed the advice of the Fire & Blood author. Martin stated on his blog that House of the Dragon will require four seasons of 10 episodes each to properly tell the Dance of the Dragons story, with the pace of Game of Thrones’ prequel already aligning with this strategy. Whereas Game of Thrones mistakenly ignored Martin’s advice, House of the Dragon is apt to follow his guidance and produce a more satisfying conclusion. In fact, House of the Dragon could go above and beyond granting Martin his wish, as it could potentially become an anthology series.
Why Game Of Thrones Ignored GRRM’s 10+ Seasons Wish
While HBO giving Game of Thrones a longer run could have potentially saved its divisive ending, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss wouldn’t back down from their plan to conclude with season 8. The showrunners revealed that they had always planned on creating approximately 73 hours’ worth of content for Game of Thrones, with either seven or eight seasons being their maximum (via EW). However, HBO and George R.R. Martin both wanted Game of Thrones to continue for more seasons; at one point, Martin even suggested that 13 seasons could be justified.
Despite HBO and Martin’s wishes, Game of Thrones’ showrunners decided the story was ready to come to an end. Had they listened to the author, Game of Thrones would likely still be airing today, but audiences also wouldn’t have House of the Dragon quite yet. Since House of the Dragon has been seen as a source of redemption for Game of Thrones’ season 8 backlash, new showrunner Ryan Condal isn’t likely to repeat the same mistakes as his predecessors regarding the series’ length. As such, if HBO and Martin advise that four seasons of ten episodes each is what House of the Dragon requires, this is the length that can be expected.
How Involved Is GRRM With House Of The Dragon?
The author is still somewhat involved in House of the Dragon’s creative direction, but isn’t in the writer’s room like he occasionally was at the start of Game of Thrones. However, Condal worked closely with Martin when developing the prequel series, so his influence is certainly present in House of the Dragon. Martin remains an executive producer on the show, so his creative input is valued in House of the Dragon’s future, but his role has changed since the series’ development began. Martin started out very involved in House of the Dragon’s early development alongside the original members of the writer’s room, but his presence waned slightly after HBO officially picked up the series.
While Ryan Condal wanted Martin’s engagement and opinions on the series’ directions, it proved difficult to have him there every step of the way. However, Condal still keeps Martin updated on each aspect of the series and takes his feedback into account. House of the Dragon’s sole showrunner stated that he may not always make a decision that Martin agrees with, but still makes it a priority to discuss the show’s creative direction and keep the author informed. Here are Condal’s comments from an interview with Deadline:
“It’s really hard for him to engage with us at the pace that we would need him to, to weigh in on every single little decision. The train is moving too fast. But he always knows what’s going on. That’s the thing that I promised him from the beginning: I might not always do exactly the thing that he wants me to do, but we will always talk about it. We will always have the discussion, and I’ve honored that.”
How Many Seasons Will House Of The Dragon Have?
The pace that House of the Dragon season 1 moved at may have been unusually fast, but it was for good reason. The first half of season 1 can be considered an extended prequel to the main Dance of the Dragons story, as House of the Dragon needed to cover nearly 30 years’ worth of backstory in only seven episodes. House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8 is when the series gets to the timeline and pace that will become familiar throughout the rest of the show, with no more significant time jumps in sight. As such, the pace of House of the Dragon’s Targaryen civil war story will now essentially follow Game of Thrones’ early format.
House of the Dragon will most likely grant Martin his four-season wish, although many of the major characters could be dead before the final season. If continuing the pace it’s at now, the latter half of House of the Dragon season 4 would likely serve as an epilogue, revealing how Westeros and House Targaryen recover from the devastating Dance of the Dragons. While this is apt to be the end of the Targaryen civil war story, House of the Dragon could extend well beyond four seasons if it becomes an anthology series. If so, following House Targaryen through various eras of Westerosi history could yield even more seasons than Game of Thrones.
