House of the Dragon is a few months away from completing filming on its second season. For those who mightn’t be aware, the series is adapted from the inaccurate history book, Fire and Blood, released in 2018. However, the series only covers the lead-up to the Dance of Dragons, the war between the blacks (Rhaenyra) and the greens (Aegon II) and the war itself.
Fire and Blood is over 700 pages and up in length, with the other books set in Westeros. The original Game of Thrones television series did its best to cover the novels. But given each book’s length, it was nearly impossible to tell the story in that much detail. It took more than one season to cover one book. Also, the final season was done with a creativity licence. The last book hadn’t been released when it went into production.
If the whole of Fire and Blood had been covered in House of the Dragon, the first season wouldn’t have covered the entirety of Aegon I’s rule. It would’ve also taken the second season to cover the whole thing. This is just an example.
Not All Targaryens Are Relevant To The Story
Given that the show is called House of the Dragon, you’d think it would cover everything from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon III. Given how much page time each of the Targaryens got in Fire and Blood, it’s hard to tell the story in one series. Also, some members of the dynasty were less relevant than others. For example, of all Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s thirteen children, only four survived into adulthood. Two are Baelon (the father of Viserys I and Daemon), Aemon (the father of Rhaenys), and Prince of Dragonstone.
Going into the behind-the-scenes, a pitch was presented to HBO in 2022. The series was going to be about Aegon’s Conquest, where Aegon I was seen as a “drunken lout.” It was rejected. In 2023, there was another attempt to get a project off the ground about the same event. It was suggested that a feature film be made that leads into a series. However, an announcement came out sometime later, saying a series about The Hedge Knight had been greenlit instead, meaning that any project on Aegon the Conqueror was not being pursued.
The prequel timeline predating House of the Dragon is vast. There is plenty of room to expand in the years ahead.
Each Targaryen Reign Should Have Its Own Project
House of the Dragon begins with the end of Jaehaerys’ reign and weaves into Viserys’. However, the first Season was so choppy due to the time jumps that were seen as necessary to tell a story spanning two decades in ten episodes.
Also, viewers were upset with the pacing due to the confusion that comes with it. In the first example, the second episode jumps about six months, while episode three jumps a few years. The pattern continues throughout, especially with The Princess and the Queen episode, the sixth instalment of the season, which has a ten-year time jump.
What the developers could have done to make the process easier is break the reigns up rather than focus on one event and then have everything come together in a big event, so it’s one continuous story.
It could have gone like this:
- Aegon’s Conquest
- Aenys and Maegor (one or two seasons for both because both reigns are concise)
- Jaehaerys
- Viserys
- Rhaenyra/Aegon (Dance of the Dragons)
- Aegon III (Rhaenyra and Daemon’s son)
The Sons Of The Dragon
Aenys and Maegor both were on the throne for a short time, so it would make sense if they had a season or two each to flesh out their stories onscreen before they passed to Jaehaerys. The battle that Jaehaerys wages to get his uncle off the iron throne would be fascinating.
If the Aegon’s Conquest project ever gets off the ground, it would show that there is plenty of room to adapt the other stories in Fire and Blood. Also, the Dance of the Dragons is a prominent part of the mythos, which shows the downfall of House Targaryen in spectacular fashion.
In conclusion, House of the Dragon had every right to adapt the Dance of the Dragons the way it has, as it is just one story of many.
