House of the Dragon has seen enormous success since its debut in late August. According to a Variety report, the series averages 29 million viewers in the U.S. alone, tripling the audience Game of Thrones reached during its first season. Luckily for fans, the HBO spinoff series has a clear beginning and end, as the story is outlined in author George R.R. Martin’s historical novel Fire & Blood.
Martin recently discussed the series on his personal blog as the show wrapped up its eighth episode titled Lord of the Tides. In his post, he talks about the 10-episode run and how he’s thankful to have 10 hours each season to tell his story. However, given the set-in-stone approach to the show, the author predicts House of the Dragon will take at least four seasons to properly tell the Dance of the Dragon storyline.
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“As it is, I am thrilled that we still have 10 hours every season to tell our tale,” Martin explains. “(Rings of Power has only 8, as you may have noticed, and my AMC show Dark Winds is doing 6 episode seasons). I hope that will continue to be true.” He continues, “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.”
One complaint regarding Game of Thrones was the differing opinions on the length of the show, as showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss wanted an eight-season run. At the same time, Martin believed the story needed to span 10 installments at the very least, with 13 being ideal. Luckily, Martin has stated he has a fair amount of input over House of the Dragon, so fans shouldn’t expect the series to be cut short.
George R.R. Martin Prefers Paddy Considine’s Viserys Over His Own
HBO
Spoiler Alert: Spoilers For House of the Dragon Episode 8 ‘Lord of the Tides’ Ahead During his blog post, Martin reflected on the performances through House of the Dragon so far and praised Paddy Considine’s interpretation. The actor portrayed King Viserys Targaryen through eight episodes of the series before his character met a heartbreaking demise in the final scene.
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Considine recently revealed a text Martin sent to him following his time on the show, and now Martin shared his love for the actor in his own words. “Kudos to Eileen Shim, the scriptwriter, to Geeta Patel, the director, to our incredible cast… and particularly to Paddy Considine for his portrayal of King Viserys, the First of His Name,” Martin writes. “The character he created (with Ryan and Sara and Ti and the rest of our writers) for the show is so much more powerful and tragic and fully fleshed than my own version in Fire & Blood that I am half tempted to go back and rip up those chapters and rewrite the whole history of his reign.” Martin continues, “Paddy deserves an Emmy for this episode alone. If he doesn’t get one, hey, there’s no justice.”
The Game of Thrones spinoff series is coming up on its final two episodes of the season, which will surely excite audiences. House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday, with the first eight episodes available now.
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