'House of the Dragon' Would Have Started 40 Years Earlier If George R.R. Martin Had Succeeded: 'No More Time Jumps and Remakes'

"House of the Dragon" kept viewers on their toes throughout its first season in constantly jumping in time between episodes, most dramatically in Episode 6 when the series jumped 10 years and recast the roles of Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock to Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent (Emily Carey to Olivia Cooke). Had co-creator and writer George R.R. Martin been successful, the series would have featured even more time jumps and redesigns, as he would have started the series 40 years earlier than the start of the pilot.

"One of the big problems with all these writers was knowing where to start," said Martin in a video interview with Penguin Random House. "['House of the Dragon' showrunner Ryan Condal] started in [Episode 1] with the Grand Council where the Lords vote that Jaehaerys' heir - he just lost his son Baelon, who died of appendicitis - so who is his heir now? And the lords vote to choose Viserys over Rhaenys."

Martin said "this [beginning] was not handed down by an ancient Greek muse We – myself and the other writers – had a lot of heated discussions about where to start this story.”

One ​​of the writers of the series wanted to start "House of the Dragon" with the death of Viserys first wife Aemma (who is shown in graphic detail later in the pilot episode), while another floated the idea of ​​starting with the death of Viserys (which does not take place in the series until the eighth episode ). Martin's "favorite" idea was to start "much earlier".

"I would have started this like 40 years earlier with the episode I would have called ' The Heir and the Spare," in which Jaehaerys' two sons, Aemon and Baelon, are alive," Martin said. "And we see the friendship, but also the rivalry, between the two sides of the big house. know, Aemon dies accidentally when a myrish crossbowman accidentally shoots him on Tarth and then Jaehaerys has to decide who becomes the new heir Is it the daughter of the eldest son who just died or is it the second son, who has sons of his own and who's a man and who's just a teenage girl?"

Martin added: "You would have been 40 years older and you would have had even more jumps in time and you'd have even more re-casts and, yes, I was the only one who was really excited about that.

"House of the Dragon" is renewed for a second season, but showrunner Condal has already promised fans that there will be no more significant time jumps or revamps. The 10-episode first season of “House of the Dragon” is now streaming on HBO Max.

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