The latest GOT prequel- House of the Dragon focuses on the great Targaryen Civil War that was known to be the Dance of the Dragons. The war between Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Aegon II that destroyed that Targaryen house from within and the might of the house was never the same. The war that rendered all the dragons extinct. The show is based on another book of George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. The pilot of the prequel became HBO’s biggest debut and has since continued its glorious run with each episodes seeing a rise in viewership numbers. The latest report suggests that the show has an average audience of 29 Million per episode, making it the biggest hit after Game of Thrones. The show’s events are set 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen.
Season 1 is laying the foundation for the civil war and episode 8 has taken the biggest step towards the war. Despite tumultuous success of the prequel, it faced some initial backlash along with Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power as both of them had Black actors playing some roles unlike the source material. The series was called promotion of “Wokeism”. While House of the Dragon was not affected by the backlash as much as LOTR, but still a clarification on this matter was necessary. Co-showrunner Ryan Condal recently gave clarification on the casting choice of the show.
House of the Dragon: Ryan Condal Says Making Velaryons Black wasn’t to Tick a Box!
In a recent interview, Ryan Condal stated that the change was not meant to appeal to any left wing ideals, saying “I think it was not that simple. I think the reason that it’s been a successful choice … is because it was thought out. It wasn’t just done perfunctorily or wasn’t just done to tick a box or … to be seen as progressive. It’s 2022. It’s a different era than these shows used to be made in. We have an incredibly diverse audience that’s not only across America, but in multiple countries that speak all sorts of different languages, that represent … all the colors under the sun. And it was really important to see some of that reflected up on screen.”
Condal also pointed out that the show being a fantasy made it easier to make the change, “This is a fantasy world. I think if this was a historical fiction piece, it would be a more nuanced discussion. But I think simply because this is a fantasy world, if we believe in dragons, and shape-shifters and direwolves, we can believe everybody in the story is not white.” The showrunner also addressed that he had previously also read an article where George R.R. Martin had discussed his original plans, “And it always stuck with me, this article … where George had talked about, at first when he set out to write these books, considering making all of the Velaryons Black. … Black people with silver hair — and that always really stuck with me as an image.”
This an amazing answer by the showrunner to everyone who was unhappy with the casting choice. We as an audience and fans of something should realize that the source material which we love was written for a certain time, when adapting the same the creators have to make it era appropriate. So, whether it is House of the Dragon, LOTR: Rings of Power or Apple TV’s Foundation we have to stop criticizing the shows for their supposed wokeism. We have all the right to criticize if the creators couldn’t do justice to the source material but simply because the ones who are bringing the characters to life have a different race or gender we should erupt, unless that hampers the story as it was an integral part.
House of the Dragon has an incredible ensemble cast that includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Along with the main cast, the supporting cast of the show includes- Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, Savannah Steyn, and more.
The first eight episodes of HOTD are currently streaming on HBO Max or Disney+. New episodes will debut on every Sunday or Monday on HBO and HBO Max or Disney+ Hotstar depending on the region you live in, at 9 pm or 6.30 am.
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