George R.R. Martin Says ‘House Of The Dragon’ Needs “Four Full Seasons” On HBO At Current Pace & Addresses Time Jumps

House of the Dragon has smashed HBO’s SVoD ratings records in Europe, Warner Bros Discovery has claimed.

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details from the season finale of House of the Dragon.

Fire cannot kill a dragon — or a franchise. HBO is returning to Westeros with the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, and once again the cast is almost unrecognizable outside of their wigs and costumes.

The House of the Dragon bosses are promising the second season will deliver more of the thrills and spills familiar to the millions of Thrones fans tuning in, along with more humour along the lines of the original series. 

end of episode 8, picks up immediately the next morning in episode 9, as Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) starts making moves -- ones that seem to counter what was set in place by the king and his council many years prior. Not only that, but the queen’s sons prove just how much of a hot mess they are while Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) finally finds herself provoked to get up off the sidelines and take action in the battle of succession for the Iron Throne. As the penultimate episode set up the season 1 finale, which will surely end with a fiery fight between families, fans took to social media to share their thoughts about the queen’s change of plans and that shocking show of restraint that ended the aptly titled “The Green Council.” [: Spoilers for season 1, episode 9.] With the king now dead, after a miraculously long health battle that ended with him crying into the night, the queen wastes no time to start making moves of her own, believing that Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) is now the rightful heir to the throne -- and not Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), who was previously promised to rule after her father’s death and even seemed to finally heal the festering wounds between her and her former best friend. However, the news of the king’s death is not yet widely known, allowing the queen and her father, the Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifan), to call their own small council (err “Green Council”) to determine the line of succession.

Zack Sharf Ever since “House of the Dragon” started its debut season, fans have been sensing queer undertones in the relationship between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower. The characters were played in their younger years by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, the latter of whom confirmed to Variety that the actors discussed the queer intimacy that might exist between their characters. “I mean, we kind of started that discourse,” Carey said. “We were in the rehearsal room…I believe it’s Episode 4. It’s not necessarily something we had talked about yet. We were doing a scene, and Milly and I looked at each other like, ‘It kind of felt like we were about to kiss? That was really weird!’ And so we talked about it.” 

Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy.In a TikTok video posted to HBO Max's verified account on Oct. 1, the  stars are seen discussing their favorite drink in the 20-second clip that has since gone viral and garnered more than 14.6 million views.

House of the Dragon series proved red is definitely her colour.  The star of the Game of Thrones spin off show, graced the red carpet at the Bulgari High Jewellery Gala held in St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday night, wearing a red feathered gown from none other than 16 Arlington.

Fans of “House Of The Dragon” are annoyed with the frequent “time jumps” (two in 8 episodes, yes!) in the series. However, George RR Martin defended screenwriter Ryan J Condal and says that both time leaps have been “handled very well.”

House Of the Dragon season one.Throughout the first season of the Game Of Thrones spin-off, viewers saw various members of the Targaryen family through several iterations, with Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke replacing Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower, while Tom Glynn-Carney and Ewan Mitchell took over the roles of Prince Aegon Targaryen and Prince Aemond “One-Eye” Targaryen.However, fans had noted the omission of their youngest brother, Daeron Targaryen, who didn’t feature at all in the first season.Martin however, has since cleared up any confusion, explaining Daeron’s absence in his latest blog post.“Yes, Alicent gave Viserys four children, three sons and a daughter,” wrote the Game Of Thrones author. “Their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season.”Also in the blog post, Martin took the opportunity to praise the performance of actor Paddy Considine, noting that his portrayal of King Viserys was “more powerful and tragic and fully-fleshed” that his own written version.“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 wrote.“The character he created (with Ryan [Condal] and Sara [Hess] 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.He added: “Paddy deserves an Emmy for this episode alone.

“House of the Dragon” distinguishes itself from the original “Game of Thrones” series is its more diverse cast. Despite the accolades and acclaim that came to “Thrones,” the HBO series was largely dominated by white cast members. In crafting a prequel series, “House of the Dragon” co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal found a smart way to bring a more representative ensemble to Westeros while still keeping in line with George R.R.

previously served as co-showrunner alongside director Miguel Sapochnik, had previously struck a deal with HBO in 2020, right after “HOTD” got a straight-to-series order. The series, which was also developed by author George R.R. Martin, was the first to triumph after a slew of failed spinoffs, including a pilot starring Naomi Watts.“When I picked up that paperback copy of ‘Game of Thrones’ over two decades ago, I wasn’t even sure I would make it as a screenwriter.

BreAnna Bell “House of the Dragon” co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal is extending his relationship with HBO and has renewed his overall deal, Variety has confirmed. The agreement comes on the heels of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” success among viewers. After opening to the largest audience for a new original series in the history of HBO in August, the “Game of Thrones” prequel series, which is now averaging 29 million viewers per episode in the U.S., has been renewed for a second season, with Condal to continue on as showrunner. The writer first inked the overall deal with HBO in 2020 following the announcement of “House of the Dragon’s” straight-to-series order. In addition to serving as a writer, he also worked as an executive producer and co-showrunner on Season 1 beside director Miguel Sapochnik. For season 2, Condal was elevated to sole showrunner.

EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Condal succeeded where others failed — out of half-dozen or so writers who took a stab at co-creating a Game Of Thrones prequel with author George R.R. Martin, Condal’s House of the Dragon was the one to make it to series at HBO. After a big launch, the fantasy drama was quickly renewed for a second season, and now HBO also has renewed Condal’s overall deal.

HBO has released a trailer for the latest episode of House Of The Dragon, setting up what looks to be a dramatic conclusion to the first season of the Game of Thrones prequel.In the episode eight trailer, which you can watch below, we can see that the story has been thrust even further into the future with a second time jump, with Aegon, Aemond and Rhaenyra Targaryen’s sons all being recast with older actors.The first time jump came in episode six, with Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke taking over as the adult versions of Rhaenyra and young Alicent. The two characters had previously been played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, respectively.Elsewhere in the trailer, we see Rhaenys sat upon the throne at Driftmark in the absence of her severely injured husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon aka The Sea Snake.In a voiceover, Matt Smith’s character Daemon remarks: “The Sea Snake has taken a grave wound in battle in the Stepstones.”Another character later adds: “Who will take the Driftwood throne?” suggesting Rhaenys’ time upon it could be short-lived.After seeing Daemon get his hands on a precious dragon egg, the trailer then ends on an ominous note, with Rhys Ifans’ Otto Hightower warning: “The threat of war looms.”You can watch the trailer below.Last week, Game Of Thrones author George R.R.

Spoilers ahead for episode 7 of “House of the Dragon, which aired Sunday, Oct 2 on HBO.Everyone is gathered at Driftmark (Corlys’ castle) for the funeral of his daughter — Daemon’s wife who died last episode. Princess Rhaenyra (now played by Emma D’Arcy instead of Milly Alcock) reconnects with her uncle Daemon for the first time since the 10-year time jump. Apparently, he’s not much of a grieving widower, since he has sex on the beach with his niece immediately after his wife’s funeral. Prince Aemond (the second son of King Viserys and Queen Alicent) is also on the beach.

Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has said that “the best is yet to come” on the spin-off series House Of The Dragon.The writer has reflected on the first half of the show’s debut season in his blog, and referenced how Milly Alcock and Emily Carey have now finished playing younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent respectively (Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke took over the roles in the most recent episode).“The show opened strong and has only been getting stronger,” Martin wrote. “Milly Alcock and Emily Carey were incredible as young Rhaenyra and young Alicent, were they not?“With Sunday’s episode, Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke took over as the adult versions of the characters.

Selome Hailu Viewership of “House of the Dragon” Episode 6 drew 3% more viewers than Episode 5, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is now seeing steady bumps with each installation; Episode 6 marks its third consecutive week of growth. (Episodes 4 showed a 5% increase and Episode 5 showed a 3% increase, as exclusively reported by Variety.) The calculation of these increases account for both cable viewership across four airings on HBO on Sunday, as recorded by Nielsen, and viewers across HBO Max and other HBO platforms through the night. The specific count of people who watched “House of the Dragon” Episode 6 has not been disclosed by Warner Bros. Discovery, though Variety was able to confirm the percent increase in viewership. Additionally, as of Sept. 20, Season 1 was seeing an average of 29 million viewers per episode, a significant feat for any cable series, even with the help of streaming.

EXCLUSIVE: There is another change in the executive producer ranks of HBO’s House of the Dragon. Jocelyn Diaz will not be returning to the Game Of Thrones sequel as it is headed into its second season. Sources said she had a one-year deal with an option for a second, which is not being picked up.