House of the Dragon Showrunners Explain Need for Time Jump

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House of the Dragon Showrunners Explain Need for Time Jump

HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon recently underwent a time jump in its latest episode. While some fans may question why the series did so, its showrunners say it was necessary to accomplish the story.

Showrunner Ryan Condal spoke about the recent time jump, which pushes the story forward about 10 years. Condal said that due to the story the show is trying to tell — which takes place over 150 years in the George R.R. Martin novel Fire & Blood — time jumps were necessary for the series.

“I’m excited about the pace and the structure of the story that we’re telling in the first season,” Condal told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s very complex. It happens over a long period of time because children need to get married off and then grow up themselves and then have children of their own who grow up in order to tell the story of this generational war that is fought. HBO gave [showrunner Miguel Sapochnik] the creative latitude to tell this incredibly complex story in a really patient and character-driven way that sets up a first season so that it launches you into one of the most famous and bloody conflicts in the history of Westeros — if not the most.”

Asked if he was worried fans might not be happy at the lack of action to start off the series, Condal said he strongly believed they would be rewarded later on.

“No one ever said to us, ‘When’s the drama going to start?’” showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said. “There’s a real advantage to taking the time to get to know the characters because the investment is worthwhile. House of the Dragon season 1 is a slow burn. And it’s worth it because there’s enough in there to keep everybody interested, but we have purposely tried to move away from doing spectacle so that when we return to the spectacle we can do it properly.”