“House of the Dragon” had an incredibly high bar to clear. Not only was it following in the juggler’s footsteps of “Game of Thrones,” but unlike other TV sequels or spinoffs, this prequel had zero character crossover beyond the Targaryen name. It’s a whole new cast of characters in very different Westeros, and audiences weren’t given to care about that.
And yet, HBO’s “House of the Dragon” is a huge success. In addition to widespread critical acclaim, it debuted to 9.99 million viewers on its first night—the biggest single-day debut for a series in HBO Max’s history. And that success is due, critically and commercially, to innovative creative decisions made by showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condall and his team.
In telling the story of the beginning of the end of the Targaryen regime, the show’s focus on two women was already “baked in DNA” (as Condall put it), thanks to the books by George R.R. Martin. The series reaches adulthood as a character played by Princess Renera Targaryen (played by Millie Alcock in the first five episodes and Emma D’Arcy in the latter half of the season) and Queen Alicent Hightower (Emma Carey and, later, Olivia Cooke), Focuses on childhood. Best friends whose bond is broken under the burden of politics and tradition.
“What we did was set out to go deep into their history and tell the story of these two women as young girls and see them grow up together and become quite fond and close friendships with each other, only The men around him broke through the pressures to get through it,” Kondal, who produced Season 1 with “Game of Thrones” veteran producer and director Miguel Sapochnik, told TheWrap. “Patriarchal pressures, especially their fathers, who both have political responsibilities in their lives, and in this world where marriage is duty and power, look at how those pressures apply in their lives, and then see that How it exposes them is different.”
One of the biggest burdens facing the female characters of the show is Waris. To more accurately depict childbirth in all its horrific pain and gore, Kondall knew that a woman’s perspective behind the camera was important.
“It was always really important to me, and to HBO, to have a fully represented cast and crew in front of and behind the camera,” Condall said. “My writing partner on the show, Sarah Hayes, whom I’ve made no secret about — I couldn’t have done the show without her. She was the first person I recruited into the writing staff building because I knew I’d be two women. I have a wife, I have two daughters, I think I’ve been through a lot through the female experience as a man, but I’m still a man. And I think It’s important to see that perspective from inside someone who is a woman, was a mother and who had all these experiences that I couldn’t. What I have seen from outside, but not experienced internally has done.”
Another aspect of “House of the Dragon” that Kondal and his team embraced is its intimate nature. For Kondal (who previously co-created the United States’ 2016 sci-fi series “Colony” with Carlton Cuse), if the sprawling, epic “Game of Thrones” was a “Homeric story,” the more implied prequel is Greek tragedy. .
The intrigue unfolds around just one family, the House Targaryen, who play charming, morally questionable characters such as Matt Smith’s business prince Damon Targaryen, Steve Toussaint’s ambitious Lord Corliss Valerian and Paddy Considine’s mild (and sick) King Viceri. populated by
“It lets you live more closely with different characters than you would be able to in the original series because you have to serve more characters as this is the story of the diaspora, and follow the characters across the map as they slowly move forward.” Come back together slowly,” he said. “Whereas it starts with the characters when they are together and then slowly pulls them apart.”
When asked why his show has struck so much excitement among the audience, Kondal said, “I think the success of ‘House of the Dragon’, if I have to lay my finger on it, has to offer only one thing. But in a different way. For “Game of Thrones,” because people come to “Game of Thrones” now expecting a certain thing: they expect high political intrigue, they expect interesting, great characters. who do unexpected but totally set things up all the time, and they want surprises to tell the story. I think that comes from being focused on hopefully, well-crafted characters with whom you can get a lot of fun. They spend time and know and then get intimidated when they start making questionable decisions.”
Knowing the people of Westeros, the number of people to come would be enormous.
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