Years after its initial confirmation, the story of House Targaryen is finally coming to the small screen. In the weeks leading up to its premiere, HBO has done an excellent job setting the stage with an extended teaser trailer and the latest official trailer. But, while fans have kept themselves busy discussing how House of the Dragon will compare to Game of Thrones - by the way, the prequel reportedly has a much higher budget compared to the main series - the showrunners just gave us some food for thought. According to a Q&A by SFX Magazine, co-showrunner, Ryan Condal, compared House of the Dragon with fellow HBO show, Succession, as well as Netflix’s The Crown. Here is what Condal had to say about the shows the HOTD writers used for inspiration. Succession is a satirical dark comedy that chronicles the power struggle resulting from the fight between three siblings vying for the position of their aging father, the CEO of a media giant. On the other hand, The Crown is a historical drama TV series detailing the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Succession and The Crown are in their third and fourth seasons, respectively, with orders for more. Going back to what Condal said, Wars of the Roses is a real-life 15th-century war from 1455 to 1487 between rivaling contenders that ultimately exhausted the male successors of the Lancaster and York dynasties. Condal is right to compare Game of Thrones to the War of the Roses. But, we’re curious that Condal describes House of the Dragon as something that is also “much more engrossing and tragic,” which definitely is getting our hopes up higher if that’s at all even possible. Ultimately, House of the Dragon might take queues from Succession but there’s one thing that the more grounded show won’t have that it will - dragons. According to estimates, House of the Dragon will have well over 17 dragons featured on the show. Even if a handful of them won’t pop up for more than a few seconds, that’s still several times more than what Game of Thrones had. But, we’re hoping that the Succession comparisons don’t ring hollow. There was a point in time that Succession became dubbed the “new Game of Thrones” after winning nine Emmys through three seasons. It’s a tall ask for House of the Dragon. Then again, since we’re already making comparisons, we might as well aim high. Speaking of House of the Dragon, reports suggest that a second season is already in the works with a Jon Snow-centric spinoff already in development.
