THE FLAME GAME
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON George R.R. Martin reopens the doors on House Targaryen…
Even before the ash of Daenerys Targaryen’s lethal conflagration had settled, rumours stirred of prequels to HBO’s Game Of Thrones. As ever with matters on the George R.R. Martin front, things proceeded slowly and not every hopeful survived; true to Westeros form, one starry prequel died a cruel death after its pilot was shot. But the MEU (Martin Expanded Universe) is finally set to launch skyward on screen with House Of The Dragon. And as imagined-history source book
Fire And Blood doth foretell, the clouds will rain dragon fire.
The first in a proposed two-part saga, Fire And Blood plots the fall of the tumultuous Targaryen dynasty, beginning long before Dany touched the flames. Narrated (unreliably, leaving room for onscreen variation) by an Archmaester, Martin’s tale involves conquerors and queens, lusty siblings and sex with horses, grim plagues and the unpleasantries of “gelding”. Events lead to the Dance of the Dragons, a ferocious civil war featuring enough flying-lizard action to satisfy anyone who still gets tingles recalling Jon Snow pet Drogon.
On the ground level, two familiar names run the show. Miguel Sapochnik directed some of Thrones’ fiercest episodes, including ‘Hardhome’ and ‘Battle Of The Bastards’. Ryan Condal, meanwhile, honed his form with outsized stand-offs as a co-writer on Rampage, among other projects.
A tantalising cast will render this hugely complex history of sex, betrayal and fiery violence in flesh and blood. Martin has compared one book-to-screen improvement to Sibel Kekilli’s heart-breaking Shae in
Thrones: “In a similar vein, I am vastly
‘IT’S DARK, IT’S POWERFUL, IT’S VISCERAL… GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
impressed by the show’s version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that my book Viserys never quite achieved.”
Elsewhere, Emma D’Arcy and Eve Best play Targaryen dragonriders Rhaenyra and Rhaenys, respectively. Matt Smith is Viserys’ young warrior brother Prince Daemon, Steve Toussaint (see right) plays seafaring adventurer Lord Corlys Velaryon (aka the Sea Snake) and Rhys Ifans plays one of many Sers (try to take notes), Otto Hightower. And Otto’s daughter Alicent is played by Olivia Cooke, who offers salient insights into Martin’s complex, shades-of-grey character work: “You just don’t know what you’re going to get with these characters.”
Fire And Blood virgins won’t know who will live or die horribly, either, though Martin’s promises regarding the show should be noted: “It’s dark, it’s powerful, it’s visceral… just the way I like my epic fantasy.”
Flame-roasted, then, but Sapochnik accepts the show cannot simply ride on the shoulders of giant dragons we once loved: “This is something else, and should be something else… Hopefully it’ll be seen as something else. But it will have to earn that – it won’t happen overnight.” And as Martin would attest, you shouldn’t rush that old Thrones magic. Saddle up for the slow-burn. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON LAUNCHES ON SKY ATLANTIC AND NOW ON 22 AUGUST.