George R.R Martin believes House of the Dragon will need at least four seasons to tell the whole Targaryen story.
In a recent blog post, the author expressed his love for the show but noted how 40 episodes, (so 10 episodes for each instalment) would properly honour the story he wrote in Fire & Blood.
He wrote: “As it is, I am thrilled that we still have 10 hours every season to tell our tale. (RINGS OF POWER has only 8, as you may have noticed, and my AMC show DARK WINDS is doing 6 episode seasons).
"I hope that will continue to be true. 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.”
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No disrespect to Rings of Power.
In the same blog post, Martin praised showrunner Ryan Condrol for handling the story's huge leaps in time.
He wrote: “I think Ryan has handled the ‘jumps’ very well, and I love love love both the younger Alicent and Rhaenyra and the adult versions, and the actresses who play them. (Truth be told, we have an incredible cast, and I love all of them).”
However, the 74-year-old noted how he wished the series further explored the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin; and the marriage of Daemon and Laena.
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Martin also took a moment to marvel at Paddy Considine, who plays Viserys I Targaryen.
He said the actor portrays him better than how he envisioned the character.
He said: “Sunday’s episode, 'Lord of the Tides', was everything I hoped it should be. Kudos to Eileen Shim, the scriptwriter, to Geeta Patel, the director, to our incredible cast… and particularly to Paddy Considine, for his portrayal of King Viserys, the First of His Name.
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“The character he created (with Ryan and Sara and Ti and the rest of our writers) for the show is so much more powerful and tragic and fully-fleshed than my own version in FIRE & BLOOD that I am half tempted to go back and rip up those chapters and rewrite the whole history of his reign.
"Paddy deserves an Emmy for this episode alone. If he doesn’t get one, hey, there’s no justice.”
Featured Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection/Alamy Live News. HBOTopics: News, House of the Dragon, HBO, TV and Film