George RR Martin is using House of the Dragon to fix Game of Thrones.
The author of the source material of both shows has long been vocal about his involvement with Thrones, which ended in 2019.
While Martin was a consultant on the series, showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss exceeded the author’s still-uncompleted A Song of Ice and Fire book series to deliver a finale that was much derided by fans.
Martin has revealed that he was brought in to assist with the production of House of the Dragon, which is a spin-off focused on House Targaryen; it’s set more than 150 years before the events of Thrones.
House of the Dragon showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik have revealed that Martin stepped in to offer his views on certain things he wanted to be included in the show – and it’s being noted that the version of the Iron Throne featured in the series is more aligned with Martin’s description from the books than the one in Game of Thrones ever was.
In a 2013 blog post, as highlighted by Polygon, Martin stated that HBO designed the Iron Throne incorrectly.
He wrote that “the HBO throne” was “none of [the] things” he described it as, adding: “It’s big, yes, but not nearly as big as the one described in the novels. And for good reason. We have a huge throne room set in Belfast, but not nearly huge enough to hold the Iron Throne as I painted it.”
According to the author, the Iron Throne is supposed to “tower over the room like a great beast”.
He is reported as saying in 2014: “It’s asymmetric. It’s put together by blacksmiths not by craftsmen and experts in furniture manufacturing. You have to walk the iron steps and when a king sits on it he’s like 10 feet above everybody else. He’s in this raised position looking down on everyone.”
This is evidence that Martin is using House of the Dragon to fix the inaccuracies featured in Game of Thrones – and, in his own way, is regaining a control he never really had during the original series.
Find The Independent’s review of episode six here.
House of the Dragon airs weekly on Sundays in the US, with the UK premiere arriving 2am the following morning on Sky. The episode will then be repeated at 9pm on Mondays, and will be available to stream on Sky and NOW after its initial airing.
