We have already secured a return ticket to the intriguing and power-drunk continent that is Westeros with the series premiere of House of the Dragon. It’s good to be back but what if we never had to stay away for so long? George R.R. Martin, the author and brain behind these works, thought the original show would have benefited from a longer run, and lobbied HBO to have Game of Thrones go on for more than eight seasons. Sadly, as we all now know, it did not work out how he would have liked.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Martin recalled that he wanted the show to run a lot longer than the eight seasons. It was a quest the author lost, and he did not have much input in how the latter seasons of the original series panned out.
"I was saying it needs to be 10 seasons at least and maybe 12, 13. I lost that one. I had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story and all the characters. I believe I have more influence now [on spinoff series House of the Dragon] than I did on the original show."
Ultimately, the series produced by co-creators, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss would end after eight seasons while amassing a significant fanbase and pulling in multiple awards. Martin, who authored A Song of Ice and Fire novels which inspired the original series also spoke about the process behind settling on a plan of action for a spinoff to the original. Despite still working on his sixth novel in the series, "The Winds of Winter" which does not have a release date yet, the writer had to find time to listen to several pitches in the past as regards to a befitting spinoff. With five teams, all with separate visions, visiting him in Santa Fe, it felt unconventional. “It was like we were in the NFL playoffs and I’m coaching all the teams,” he said. “Emotionally, that was a little odd.”
The new series hoping to take over from where its predecessor stopped has received high praise from Martin. House of the Dragon is based on the fifth novel in the book series, "Fire & Blood", and the author has had nothing but high praise for the show, “[I] loved it. It’s dark, it’s powerful, it’s visceral.” No one knows if the new series will be up for a ten-season run as a second season has not yet been greenlit. We'll just have to wait and see.
You can watch the series premiere for House of the Dragon on HBO Max and catch up on all eight seasons of Game of Thrones as well. Check out the latest promo trailer below: