Set in two mystical worlds and featuring epic wars between battling clans, The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones universes have long been compared to one another.
Competition between the two avid fanbases has only been fuelled by the upcoming prequels The Rings of Power, inspired by JRR Tolkein’s extended notes, and House of the Dragon.
The much-anticipated series are landing just 10 days apart, with the George RR Martin adaptation hitting our screens first on August 22.
Rumours of a rivalry have not escaped The Rings of Power showrunner Patrick McKay, nor his counterpart JD Payne, as the claim was addressed in a recent interview.
Putting in an appearance at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in LA on Friday, Patrick was more than happy to address perceived competitiveness between the two franchises.
‘I’ll take a whack at that,’ Patrick said when asked about inevitable comparisons and ‘rivalry’ with House of the Dragon as per The Hollywood Reporter. ‘We talked about this a lot. It comes up and we totally understand where the question comes from.
‘We don’t think of the show in terms of what genre or other shows might be out there. We think about [Tolkien], his life’s work was creating this world.
‘This is Tolkien’s Middle-earth and regions beyond Middle-earth and we just wanted to be true to that and sort of drown out and forget about what might be happening in another realm someplace else.’
Actor Robert Aramayo has the unique experience of being involved in both worlds, having played the younger version of Ned Stark in Game of Thrones before joining The Rings of Power as the young Elrond, originally played by Hugo Weaving in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
But the 29-year-old said: ‘I don’t feel rivalry… the materials are so different.
‘I love fantasy. So now we obviously get to watch more fantasy, which can never be a bad thing.’
House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, placing a spotlight on House Targaryen when it was in power across the Seven Kingdoms and boasted several powerful dragons in its arsenal.
Meanwhile, The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and the original series of The Lord of the Rings stories, during the Second Age of Middle-earth, before the Fellowship and even before the rings of power were ever created.
House of the Dragon will premiere on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW on August 22, while The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is coming to Prime Video on September 2.
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