Following its major time jump, House of the Dragon showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik explain why the Game of Thrones prequel is shifting focus to its younger characters. Having premiered last month on HBO, House of the Dragon is the first spinoff show set in Westeros, which tells a history of the Targaryen family. Adapting the events chronicled in George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon sees two Game of Thrones alums, Condal and Sapochnik, taking over as showrunners, though the latter left the series after finishing season 1.
Though House Dragon is set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, quarreling over the Iron Throne is as contentious as ever. The prequel series introduces all new players, including Paddy Considine as King Viserys, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon, Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra, Emily Carey as Queen Alicent, Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys, and Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston. After House of the Dragon's 10-year time jump occurs, a bunch of new young characters are introduced, including Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, Jacaerys, Lucerys, Baela, and Rhaena.
During HBO's latest Inside the Episode for House of the Dragon episode 6, Condal and Sapochnik discussed how the series is shifting focus to its younger characters. The House of the Dragon showrunners say that episode 6 is the point when the series "starts to become about the children" and furthe explore the "unspoken drama" with the central families. Read what they said below:
Sapochnik: In the end, episode six is the beginning of the shift where the story starts to become about the children. It's not just Viserys and Daemon and Rhaenyra and Alicent. It's also this new group of kids. It's Aemond and Aegon and Jace and Luke. It's multi-generational.
Condal: Those are the children that are going to essentially fight in this coming war together. There's a whole bunch of unsaid, unspoken drama within these families. And Viserys' deeply seated internal family problems come to boil over later on in the series.
How House of the Dragon's Younger Characters Will Play Crucial Roles
House of the Dragon began by focusing on two younger characters, Rhaenyra and Alicent, and charted their childhood friendship all the way to their falling out into adulthood. Now, episode 6 essentially acts as a second pilot for House of the Dragon by introducing several young characters, many of them being Rhaenyra and Alicent's children. In typical House of the Dragon fashion, many of these younger characters will be recast as they grow older over the next few episodes.
Originally portrayed by Ty Tennant (the son of Doctor Who's David Tennant) who will eventually be recast by Dunkirk's Tom Glynn-Carney, Prince Aegon is one of the show's younger characters who will play a crucial role in the Dance of the Dragons. As the firstborn son of King Viserys and Queen Alicent, Aegon poses a direct threat to Rhaenyra's claim to the Throne. But according to the House of the Dragon showrunners' comments, other children like Jace and Luke will also grow up to fight in the upcoming Targaryen civil war.
Source: HBO