George R.R. Martin reveals the ideal number of seasons House of the Dragon should run for. Martin is the author of the ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy saga, which was adapted into the HBO series, Game of Thrones. With the fantasy adaptation becoming such a phenomenon, HBO became interested in a successor series set in Westeros. Martin thought his book Fire & Blood, which tells the history of House Targaryen, would provide solid source material for a Game of Thrones prequel series, and HBO ordered House of the Dragon, which Martin co-created and serves as an executive producer on.
Set about 200 years before Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon covers the Targaryen war of succession known as the Dance of the Dragons. So far, season 1 has spanned over 20 years, with the main cast being regularly updated with aged-up actors, covering the beginnings of King Viserys I Targaryen's reign all the way to his death, which serves as the springboard for the civil war. Shortly after its premiere, HBO renewed House of the Dragon season 2, though Martin is already thinking further ahead.
On the "Not A Blog" portion of his website, George R.R. Martin revealed the ideal number of seasons for House of the Dragon. The author thinks the HBO adaptation should run for 4 seasons, 10 episodes each, to cover the story of the Targaryen civil war properly. Read what Martin wrote below:
It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish.
Will HOTD Cover Different Eras After The Dance of the Dragons?
Martin is the utmost authority on his stories and if he says it will take exactly 40 episodes, HBO and showrunner Ryan Condal should probably heed his advice. An interesting part of Martin's comment is that he's saying House of the Dragon will need 4 seasons to cover the Dance of the Dragons. This seemingly leaves the door open for House of the Dragon to explore different eras in future seasons, just as former showrunner Miguel Sapochnik suggested. Another action-packed era is Aegon's conquest of Westeros, which is also detailed in Fire & Blood.
The fantasy author's ideal length for House of the Dragon is surprisingly, much shorter than Game of Thrones, which ran for a total of 73 episodes. Seasons 1-6 consisted of 10 episodes each, while the final two seasons were reduced to 7 and 6 episodes. Martin says he was cut "out of the loop" for the final seasons of Game of Thrones and if it was up to him, Game of Thrones should have run for 13 seasons. Hopefully this time around, Martin will remain more involved in House of Dragon in an advisory capacity.
Source: George R.R. Martin