Still mad about how Game of Thrones went down?
Fear not — House of the Dragon has got your back.
Keep watching to find out why you should give it a shot.
Game of Thrones took a heavy hit following the release of its eighth season.
The show's final episodes were panned by fans, many of whom criticized the story's rushed
pacing and many attempts to subvert audiences' expectations.
So what went wrong?
Well, for one thing, the White Walkers were defeated in one episode — after eight seasons
of build-up.
And if you thought the Night King's stare down with Jon Snow in Season 5's "Hardhome"
guaranteed an epic final fight between the two, well, think again.
Arya Stark is the one to take out the Night King in the show, while Jon is preoccupied
with the undead dragon Viserion.
But that's not all.
The revelation that Jon is actually Aegon Targaryen, trueborn son of Rhaegar Targaryen
and Lyanna Stark, ultimately leads to nothing.
Jon never ascends the Iron Throne or fulfills the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised.
Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen flips from Mhysa to Mad Queen in one harrowing episode, which
sees her slaughter the civilians of King's Landing with dragonfire.
Oh, and Jaime Lannister abandons Brienne of Tarth to die with his sister and lover, Cersei.
In the end, Bran Stark emerges from the ashes as the new King of Westeros, because… reasons.
"And who has a better story…
than Bran the Broken?"
Naturally, all of this led many Game of Thrones fans to vow that they were finished with the
once-esteemed fantasy franchise.
So far, only one aspect of the Game of Thrones finale has been confirmed to come from Martin
himself: King Bran.
During a 2019 interview published by HBO, actor Isaac Hempstead Wright stated:
"David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] told me there were two things George R.R.
Martin had planned for Bran, and that was the Hodor revelation, and that he would be king.
So that's pretty special to be directly involved in something that is part of George's vision."
Unless Martin changes his mind, fans can expect to see Bran on the throne in the books as
well as in the show.
Everything else, however?
That remains questionable.
Martin has even said that fans know "an ending," but not "the ending."
It's certainly easy for fans to remain hopeful for a more satisfying conclusion to the novels.
Fortunately, House of the Dragon seems to be rebuilding bridges with its spurned audience.
A prequel to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon takes place 172 years before Daenerys
Targaryen's birth and documents one of the most turbulent times in her family's history:
the period of civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
For fans who loved the political drama and scandals of Game Of Thrones, this is the perfect
successor show to scratch that itch.
During its premiere episode, House of the Dragon places as much emphasis on the Song
of Ice and Fire as it does Game of Thrones.
In "The Heirs of the Dragon," King Viserys informs his daughter Rhaenyra about a prophetic
dream of their ancestor Aegon's that spurred him to conquer Westeros with his dragon, Balerion
the Black Dread.
"Aegon called his dream the Song of Ice and Fire."
King Viserys passes on Aegon's vision of a "terrible winter, gusting out of the distant
North," which prompted the conqueror to create the Iron Throne and unify the kingdoms under
Targaryen rule.
It's an interesting tidbit that further fleshes out the story of the Others.
But why did the showrunners, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, choose to include a prophecy
about the White Walkers in a show about House Targaryen — particularly in its first episode?
As it turns out, Aegon the Conqueror's prophecy comes from none other than George R.R. Martin.
The author confirmed his involvement with House of the Dragon early on, while showrunner
Ryan Condal spoke to Esquire about collaborating with Martin.
He said:
"George hired me, and I came to this as a fan.
He was very involved with the beginning of the show.
Obviously, it does not exist without him.
He wrote the original source material."
Condal continued:
"This was the successor show that I think he was most interested in, of all the ones
that HBO was considering and exploring.
Certainly, [in] the very beginning in [the] conceptual phase, George was very involved."
In an interview with The New York Times, Martin compared his involvement with House of the
Dragon to Game of Thrones, remarking how he was kept "out of the loop" during the later
seasons of Thrones.
He claimed:
"By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop.
I don't know [why] – you have to ask [showrunners] Dan and Dave."
With Martin at the helm, House of the Dragon offers the chance to tell a story more faithful
to the author's original vision.
Thanks to George R.R.
Martin's involvement, House of the Dragon seems to be bridging the gap between show
and book canon.
For example, Aegon's prophecy makes no mention of anything to symbolize Arya Stark as the
savior of humanity.
"Stick 'em with the pointy end."
The last scions of House Targaryen don't realy phase the Night King in Game of Thrones, as
Daenerys and Drogon quickly discover the icy villain is fireproof, while Jon is overwhelmed
by undead soldiers before he can take a swing at any White Walkers.
It's certainly possible that Aegon's prophecy in House of the Dragon isn't supposed to foreshadow
the Game of Thrones finale.
In 2019, before Season 8 aired, Martin revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he hadn't read
any scripts for the final season, stating:
"There's a lot of minor-character [arcs] they'll be coming up with on their own.
And, of course, they passed me several years ago.
There may be important discrepancies."
More recently, Martin confirmed on his blog that his ending will be different, adding:
"Not all of the characters who survived until the end of Game of Thrones will survive until
the end of A Song of Ice and Fire, and not all of the characters who died on Game of
Thrones will die in A Song of Ice And Fire."
Before House of the Dragon, HBO almost greenlit another prequel to follow Season 8 of Game
of Thrones.
The planned series, titled Bloodmoon, was to take place 8,000 years before the events
of the original show, during an era known as the Age of Heroes.
What was Bloodmoon about?
In summary: the White Walkers.This prequel would have depicted the first Long Night eight
centuries before the Night King's defeat at Winterfell, with the White Walkers descending
on humanity from the far North for the very first time.
According to HBO, Bloodmoon was going to be seriously epic in scope.
The first press release stated:
"From the horrifying secrets of Westeros's history to the true origin of the white walkers,
the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend...
it's not the story we think we know."
Jane Goldman was to serve as showrunner alongside George R.R.
Martin as an executive producer, while Naomi Watts had been cast in a lead role.
Sadly, Bloodmoon never made it past production.
A pilot episode was filmed, but the series was shelved in favor of House of the Dragon.
Given that Bloodmoon was supposed to focus on the Long Night and the origin of the White
Walkers, it's possible that Aegon's prophecy — or whatever inspired it — would have
been heavily involved in that series.
It's worth noting that HBO doesn't necessarily need Bloodmoon to redeem the series finale.
Along with a slate of prequel shows, George R.R.
Martin confirmed on his blog that a sequel to Game of Thrones is currently in the pipe works.
Not much is known so far about the sequel, but what fans do know is that the planned
series is Jon Snow-centric, with actor Kit Harington leading the project.
"You know nothing, Jon Snow."
Official news of the Jon Snow sequel first broke in a piece for The Hollywood Reporter.
Emilia Clarke later verified in an interview with the BBC that Harrington essentially created
the show, and that he is "in it from the ground up."
There are no guarantees that the Jon Snow sequel will make it out of pre-production.
Still, if the series does make it to the small screen, it could retcon parts of Season 8;
it might even correspond with Aegon's prophecy in House of the Dragon.
A sequel starring Jon Snow, aka Aegon Targaryan, could very well feature the return of the
White Walkers, led by a new icy villain for him to face.
Game of Thrones could also be brought back to the small screen in animation.
According to George R.R.
Martin's blog, an animated prequel set in the distant land of Essos is also in the early
stages of pre-production.
The Golden Empire of Yi Ti, inspired by Imperial China, predates both Old Valyria and the Long Night.
Some fans speculate that it was the Gemstone Emperors of Yi Ti who taught the Valyrians
how to control dragons.
Corlys Velaryon made the long, perilous voyage to Yi Ti in his youth, something that viewers
could witness if his prequel series is greenlit.
If HBO branches into animation with its Yi Ti series, then it's also possible fans could
see an animated adaptation of A Song of Ice And Fire in the future.
Animation requires a less hefty budget, too — something that might appeal to HBO after
it spent $90 million on the final season of Game of Thrones.
This is one way that Thrones could return bigger and bloodier than ever.
The inclusion of Aegon's prophecy to House of the Dragon doesn't appear to be a fluke.
A Weeks Ahead Trailer released on the official Game of Thrones YouTube channel has teased
even more prophecies in the show.
In the teaser, Milly Alcock's Rhaenyra Targaryen appears to be reading more of Aegon the Conqueror's
documented prophetic dreams as she states:
"From my blood come the Prince That Was Promised."
This is big news for readers of the books.
In the second novel, A Clash of Kings, Daenerys ventures into the House of the Undying to
seek counsel from the mysterious warlocks of Qarth.
Daenerys consumes a psychedelic substance known as Shade of the Evening and experiences
multiple prophetic visions.
In one, a brutalized woman represents war-torn Westeros; another features the Wolf King at
a feast, foreshadowing the Red Wedding.
Several others include snippets from the past and the future of Martin's world.
One such moment includes her brother Rhaegar talking with an unknown woman about their
newborn son.
During this scene, Rhaegar speaks the same words that Rhaenyra speaks in the House of
the Dragon trailer.
It seems that House of the Dragon will be tackling this crucial plot thread sometime
in the future, despite the fact that it apparently has little to do with the main events of the show.
With the runaway success of House of the Dragon, the future of the Game of Thrones franchise
suddenly looks more optimistic.
George R.R. Martin's enthusiasm for the prequel is gradually encouraging fans' trust again after the disastrous
final season of Game of Thrones — and the extra efforts taken to adhere to book canon
aren't exactly hurting, either.
HBO seems to be focusing on filling out the world, too, with various prequels and spin-offs
set in Westeros and Essos lined up.
If any of them match the early success of House of the Dragon, then it's likely the
streaming titan will go all in on building a potential Martin Cinematic Universe.
If that happens, then revisiting the apocalyptic threat from the far North sounds far too good
a spectacle to pass on.
Whether it's down to a Jon Snow sequel, another prequel, or simply a plot thread followed
by House of the Dragon, there's a good chance that the events of the final season of Game
of Thrones will one day feel like nothing more than a bad dream.