So I think really, as long as they don't do anything stupid, like for example,
put him in a ridiculous wig, they should be fine.
Nina, as our resident Game of Thrones expert,
what are the biggest mistakes that House of The Dragon can avoid?
Well, luckily it looks like they've already avoided the biggest one which is don't hire
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to do absolutely anything at all. Those men have personally
betrayed me and millions of other people and they will be held responsible one day.
Can you give us a quick recap as to what's making you say that.
Yeah. So they started out on a pretty promising foot. I still think the first season
of Game of Thrones is one of the better seasons of television I've ever watched. It builds to a
really satisfying point. I don't think I need to put a spoiler warning over the fact that
they kill the guy you think is the lead of the show
nine episodes in. Like, this is 10 years old. If you don't know this by now, I'm
sorry, I can't help you. Sorry. And so they also had George R.R. Martin's books for the first,
I believe it's five seasons because I think season six is when they had to kind of strike
it on their own. And I like season six, I think more than most, really hardcore book fans. I've
only read the books once and I have read them, but I've only read them once all the way through.
And so once they ran out of territory, they sort of stumbled a little bit and it seems like they
probably could have stuck the landing. And it also seems like they had the ending of Daenerys
going crazy, and then somebody having to kill her,
that someone eventually being Jon Snow. It seems like that could have all happened reasonably. It
seems like killing the Night king could have happened reasonably. It seems like everything
that did happen in the final season could have happened reasonably. But instead it happened in
a very rushed six episodes where everything just happened all at once with very little buildup
and almost every character arc was just run directly into the ground.
It felt like their parking meter was
running out, and they were trying really hard to get out the door.
And it was like on a show where ... Right because they wanted to do their Star War and now they
don't have a Star War anymore. So way to go. Because Catherine Kennedy probably took one look
at that season and was like ... And just fired them. And like for a show where the first three
or four seasons were like ... The central thesis was like, man, it takes so long to get everywhere,
then people were just ripping huge holes in the space-time continuum and traveling across
this entire fictional continent in like an hour and a half. Well, five minutes in show time,
but I think we were supposed to think it was a couple of hours. It never was convincing.
So yeah they ran to the finish line instead of just taking their time. They were the ones who
asked for an abbreviated final season and they could have done it, they could have done every
plot point roughly the same way, almost every plot point over more episodes, but they just
didn't want to. And I've never seen a show lose so much cultural goodwill so quickly. That's all
anyone talked about for like 10 years. And now, I mean, we're talking about it, but if you go to
a dinner party and you're like, how about Game of Thrones? Everybody's going to be like what? Why?
Yeah, why? Why are you still talking about this?
I don't want to talk about this anymore? Yeah.
It's interesting. Yeah. I was thinking roughly the same thing. Like
they obviously, you're right, they had an ending and you can see on paper,
how all of the stuff that happens in the last season could work.
Look, Daenerys was always a nut job who liked a barbecue people with
really little hesitation. So her going nuts is fine, but not like that. Not like that.
Not like this.
No, she just looks at a tower and is like ugh and then she murders a million people.
Yeah. It was way too fast. So yeah. So I think that's really smart,
keeping those guys away from their new project. Makes sense.
So far away, like a restraining order. Yeah. Legally do not let them there.
I was thinking too, for me, my mistake to avoid is this is a prequel, this show is going to
be set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Don't connect it to Game of Thrones.
Yes. I couldn't agree more. Like, just let it be its own.
Let it be its own thing. 300 years is a long time.
Knights of The Old Republic.
Yeah. Knights of The Old Republic. Exactly. Right. So just go as far back as you can in history,
tell a separate story. If you want to drop a couple seeds here, seeds there like,
oh, this ancient sword that shows up in Game of Thrones, you can put that there.
And you know what? That's a great point because like, I always joked that my personal nightmare
for the way Game of Thrones would end is if like Sam looked right at the camera and was like,
I wrote a book. I think I'll call it A Game of Thrones. And then that kind of happened in the
finale. He wrote a book called A Song Of Ice And Fire. And I was watching it with a bunch
of people at my apartment and I got up and I left my own living room. I just was like I can't
do this anymore. I almost walked out of my apartment onto the street,
just in fury. So my nightmare for House of The Dragon is like they cut to like a blonde baby.
And they're like, I think we'll name her Daenerys or something like if they do anything like that,
my head is going to explode. But I agree with you completely. Keep it separate.
Let it coast on its own strength because I'm sure there are going to be strengths.
This is a good story to tell, but yeah, do not connect it. Please God no.
Yeah. Make it a spare connection if anything.
Right, right, right. Just like a wink, a little winking nod.
A wink and a nod. Yes, exactly. A dragon wink. And then fire comes out of its mouth. I don't know.
Exactly.
Don't do that. None of that. Tom, what about you?
I'm ashamed to say it, I'm not terribly familiar with Game of Thrones, but while I was reading
into this prequel series that they're doing, and it seems like they're already making some
really interesting choices. Like they're divorcing themselves from the source material right at the
beginning, which, like you were saying, that could lead to some really interesting
stories. They have a great cast.
Yeah they do.
Like really just remarkable actors. Matt Smith, I would watch Matt Smith do most things.
Your favorite.
So I think really, as long as they don't do anything stupid, like for example,
put him in a ridiculous wig, they should be fine.
Well, luckily Game of Thrones never has ridiculous wigs. It would never do such a thing.
I have some bad news for you guys. I'll show you after the video. But yeah,
I mean, just like, as we all just got done watching Black Widow.
That was kind of a prequel and we I think we all agreed that that movie did a pretty good job about
not relying on making these connections. Like the most connection we got between Black Widow
and then her next appearance in Infinity War was she got a vest and a haircut and we didn't
even see the haircut. We just saw some hair dye and then the rest of the movie happened.
We did get a hell of an explanation for the vest though.
It's a pretty good one actually. It's probably the best one I've seen.
I needed it.
I did like that actually.
A piece of clothes that I didn't notice.
Yeah. That I didn't even know we needed to talk about. But like, yeah, I mean, and prequels are
... Like Black Widow was pretty good, but prequels can be tricky. I mean, we've talked about Solo on
here before. I mean, I don't think I even need to say anything that rhymes with Schmantom Schmenace.
Schmantom Schmenace.
That wasn't even a good rhyme. I'm sorry, but I don't need to bring up the Star Wars prequels to
be like, this could go horribly, horribly wrong. I mean this could just veer directly into -
Most prequels are bad. Like -
I'm sitting here racking my brain being like,
is there a good prequel? Can I think of one? And not really.
X-Men First Class is often cited as a good prequel.
Yeah, that's ...
I remember liking it, a lot of it, but I've never felt really compelled to watch it again. And the
rest of that franchise ... And they had to still do some kind of weird, like alternate timeline
thing to connect the franchise that started to the one that came after. Like it's still messy.
And then they ignored it.
So overall, like telling the backstory,
telling the prequel story is always this big gamble. And so I feel like ...
Well in the fantasy realm, you have like the tragedy that is
The Hobbit, which I know was based on its own book.
Another good point.
But it's like The Hobbit's a 200 page book.
It's got the prequel disease.
They managed to make it into three movies for no reason.
And they are bad, they're bad movies. They're not good. They are such a weak, sad rip off of
the three movies that I deeply, deeply love.
I love the original Lord of The Rings movies. I watch the extended additions a lot more than
I should say on tape. But you could have Hobbit disease with this and it could suck and I would be
really disappointed. I'm hopeful that the backlash against the last season of Game of Thrones has
inspired the team behind anything Game of Thrones related to seriously step it up. Because it's not
like the end of Return of The King was horrible and everyone hated it. And they had to be like,
all right guys, we've got to make The Hobbit really good. And I'm hoping that everyone over
at House of The Dragon was like, all right, we can not screw this up. There's too much on the
line for HBO, for us, for this show, for this legacy, what have you. Because the other option
is the Game of Thrones Broadway show, and I don't see that being anything that will save anything.
I'd watch it.
I love it. Who do we get to do the book?
It's happening. No, it's literally happening. It's not a musical, it's a play.
Are you kidding me?
I thought you were joking.
Okay, that's so much worse. I was so excited for a musical.
No, the Game of Thrones stage play, it's not a musical, is coming.
Stephen Sondheim's Game of Thrones. I love this.
That's the only person who could write it and who should write it.
Or Alan Menken.
So if it were a musical ... No, Sondheim, we've got to get the dark weirdo up in here. Give it
to Sondheim disonant tones, unsettling lyrics, let's go. But yeah, I mean, I think Game of Thrones'
legacy is so deep in the mud, maybe it's going to save it. I really hope it does.
I mean, that's the question at this point. Maybe that's the last question. Like,
is there even any chance? Like hasn't ... Given how ...
The Winds of Winter is never coming out, so this is the only shot.
We can agree with that, right?
Yeah. The book is never coming out.
It's never coming out.
It's all over.
Sorry. That guy's not writing it. He's literally writing everything, he's writing the stage play
instead. It's not happening, but yeah, I think you're right. Is it possible Brian?
Is it possible for fans to actually want to come back after they've been burned so hard by the
end of something that they invested eight, what was it? Eight years, right? Eight seasons into.
It was eight seasons. And I mean, for the actors ...
10 years.
It was a full decade of filming, it was almost a decade for fans.
Rough stuff. I don't know. I mean, I'll check it out. I'll
check out House of The Dragon when it comes out. But am I excited about it?
I will definitely be watching it. Yeah, but I'm
nervous. I've been burned before. I've lost my ability to trust.
Fire and blood.
From an objective third party perspective, this is bizarre to watch. I recognize that
this is exactly what I do, every time that I talk about a franchise that I love, it's this - but
watching you guys go, it sucked, it was terrible, the ending was really bad, they rushed it,
it was terrible. I can't wait to watch what they do next, I will be paying $12 a month to do so.
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