HBO’s House of the Dragon has run its course for its first season, and what a beautiful trip to Westeros it was. Now that the season finale has ended with record-breaking numbers, we are beginning to learn more about the creative efforts that eventually led to the series. Creator George R.R. Martin whose fantasy novel, Fire & Blood is the basis for the show, spoke recently about the decision on where the show should begin and the conversations that went into it.

House of the Dragon began with the Great Council of 101, wherein King Jaehaerys Targaryen (Michael Carter) had to decide who succeeds him as ruler. His choices were between Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), the daughter of his eldest son, Aemon, and Prince Viserys (Paddy Considine), the son of his second son, Baelon. Ultimately, he chooses Viserys, and we take off from there. Given that this occurs almost halfway through the source material, there was plenty of room for suggestions as to a starting point. "One of the writers wanted to begin it later, with Aemma dying. Skip the Great Council, skip the tournament, a scream sounds out, Aemma is dead, that's where you begin. That was one possibility," Martin says in a new interview. "Another of the writers wanted to begin even later than that, with Viserys dying. But what happens there? Then you have to present all that material in flashbacks or dialogue, that becomes challenging too. But we discussed all these possibilities."

Martin for his own part had a different plan in mind. The author’s preferred starting point would’ve been “40 years earlier”, though he concedes it’s a plan "no one liked except for me." His thoughts were:

"I would've begun it like 40 years earlier, with an episode I would've called 'The Heir and the Spare. Jaehaerys' two sons, Aemon and Baelon, are alive, and we see the friendship but also the rivalry between the two sides of the great house. Then Aemon dies accidentally when a Myrish crossbowman shoots him by accident on Tarth, then Jaehaerys has to decide who becomes the new heir. Is it the daughter of the son who's just died, or the second son who has children of his own and is a man where she's a teenager? You could've presented all that stuff, but then you would've had 40 more years, and even more time jumps and recastings. I was the only one who was really enthused about that."

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Image via HBO

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In the end, the series began where it did and it turned out quite nicely. "There are many ways you can approach these things," Martin says, "and if you do it well, it can work." And it did. The time jumps Martin alluded to were a part of production that worried HBO, however, they pulled it off masterfully. While fans wait for the return of House of the Dragon, they can equally anticipate Martin’s new book, The Winds of Winter which is still in the works.

House of the Dragon is available to stream in full on HBO Max. Watch the interview below: