House of the Dragon has officially wrapped filming for season 1, according to author George R. R. Martin. There is still a plethora of post-production work to be done on the Game of Thrones prequel, but Martin has seen the rough cuts. And he says there is already one major difference between the House of the Dragon and the final season of Game of Thrones — it has his approval.
George R. R. Martin regrets not staying ahead of ‘Game of Thrones’
What happened with Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones is already stuff of legend less than three years since the series finale. Despite Martin having a five-book lead when the show began, the series caught up with the author and his source material by season 7.
He had nearly a decade to write book six — The Winds of Winter. But he didn’t get it finished in time for the final season of Game of Thrones. Which left showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss with nothing more than a generalized early outline of Martin’s planned plot developments.
“Looking back, I wish I’d stayed ahead of the books,” Martin told WTTW. “My biggest issue was when they began that series, I had four books already in print, and the fifth one came out just as the series was starting in 2011. I had a five-book head start, and these are gigantic books, as you know. I never thought they would catch up with me, but they did. They caught up with me and passed me.”
The result was a decline in storytelling. Plus a rushed final season that was controversial and left the majority of the fan base unhappy.
The ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ author approves of ‘House of the Dragon’ season 1
Despite the disappointing end to Game of Thrones, HBO is expanding the franchise with the prequel House of the Dragon. Which is based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood. It focuses on the House Targaryen and an event known as the Dance of the Dragons, which takes place a couple centuries before the main series.
In a new blog post, Martin told his fans that filming had officially wrapped. And he has seen the rough cuts of the prequel. The author also shared his early review of the series.
“Exciting news out of London — I am informed that shooting has WRAPPED for the first season of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. Yes, all ten episodes. I have seen rough cuts of a few of them, and I’m loving them,” Martin wrote.
‘House of the Dragon’ still has work to be done — so does George R.R. Martin
Martin told fans that a lot more work needs to be done, including special effects, color timing, score, and all the post production work. But he noted that the writing, directing, and acting all looked “terrific.” And he hopes that fans will like the prequel as much as he does.
As for The Winds of Winter — and the final book in the Ice and Fire novels, A Dream of Spring — Martin insists that he is still working on them. He admits that it was “a little strange” for the Game of Thrones to get ahead of him and go in a different direction. But, he promises that when the final books come out, fans will get the ending he intended.
“People know an ending—but not the ending,” Martin said.
House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO in 2022, but a specific date has not yet been announced. All eight seasons of Game of Thrones are available on HBO Max.
