House of the Dragon Already Accomplished What GoT Season 8 Couldn't Pull Off
We don't need to talk about Game of Thrones season 8 and what people thought of it. So, let's just say it was something of a disappointment to fans and to George RR Martin.
And at a recent FYC event for HBO, the author tried to explain how the production of House of the Dragon differed from that of GoT.
But he also mentioned that season 8 of Game of Thrones was written in a similar vein – just with less success.
It's well known that the epic TV that Game of Thrones became was based on Martin's series of novels. House of the Dragon, though, while set in the same world, is not really an adaptation of a novel.
Martin explained that the book on which House of the Dragon was based only served as an outline for the show.
When it came to writing Game of Thrones, the first few seasons were an adaptation of books that had already been written and a clear plot, characters and dialogue.
The story was already there and just needed to be translated to the screen.
House of the Dragon, on the other hand, was based on what Martin described as an "imaginary history book". Fire and Blood, while still a work of fiction, is written in a scholarly style that explains the history of the Targaryen dynasty.
It wasn't something that could be so easily lifted and transformed into a drama. If anything, sticking closely to the style of the book would have resulted in House of the Dragon being a fictional documentary.
Which would have been something of a comedown from the graphic nature of Game of Thrones. So, the book was used as an "outline" rather than a framework for the show. And it was a hit with fans.
Martin went on to say that the ill-fated final season of Game of Thrones was also based on an outline rather than a concrete story.
So, it's fair to say that the success of HotD season 1, when compared with the crushingly disappointing end to season 8 of Game of Thrones demonstrates that House of the Dragon season 1 has already managed to achieve something that GoT season 1 simply couldn't.
And Martin has nothing but praise for what the producers of House of the Dragon have come up with so far. And, like fans all over the world, he's looking forward to finding out what season 2 had in store.