House of the Dragon moves at a very different pace from Game of Thrones, and George RR Martin opens up on the infamous time jumps and how long he thinks the new HBO series should be.
“The Sopranos had 13 episodes per season, but just a few years later Game of Thrones only had 10 (and not even the last two seasons),” the author of A Song of Ice and Fire wrote on his blog. “If House of the Dragon had 13 episodes per season, maybe we could have shown all the things we had to ‘time jump’ about… although that would have risked some viewers complaining that the show was too ‘slow’ that ‘nothing’ happens.'”
Martin said he was “thrilled” “to have 10 hours left per season” to tell the story of the Game of Thrones prequel series. The fantasy novelist noted that shows like Rings of Power only have 8 episodes in their first season and his own show Dark Winds only has 6 seasons.
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The writer predicted that at the pace House of the Dragon is taking, “it will take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do the Dragon Dance from start to finish.”
Although House of the Dragon’s time jumps were controversial to some viewers, Martin feels that series creator Ryan Condal “handled the ‘jumps’ very well.”
“I love love love both the younger Alicent and Rhaenyra and the adult versions and the actresses who play them,” he added.
Milly Alcock played Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in the first phase of House of Dragon while Emma D’Arcy took over after the time skip. Similarly, Emily Carey played the younger Alicent Hightower and Olivia Cooke played the adult version of the character.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.