George R. R. Martin planned for at least 10 seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’
As audiences prepare for the release of House of the Dragon, author George R. R. Martin has expressed frustration about the original Game of Thrones series being cut short. After eight series, Game of Thrones ended controversially, with many fans critical of the final episodes. Many fans of the fantasy series agreed that the final season felt “rushed”, with every major storyline reaching a sudden, often unsatisfying, conclusion.
After a recent statement, it appears that the author of the original books, Martin, holds the same sentiment. He feels that Game of Thrones needed to be much longer to allow for a satisfactory finale. Discussing the show in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Martin reflected on Game of Thrones’ eight-season run. The writer showed palpable dissatisfaction and insisted that he pushed for 13 series and at the very least ten, but unfortunately, the power was out of his hands.
“I was saying it needs to be ten seasons at least and maybe 12, 13,” he said. “I lost that one… I had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story and all the characters. I believe I have more influence now [with House of the Dragon] than I did on the original show.”
House of the Dragon, helmed by Miguel Sapochnik, is said to involve Martin more in the creative process than in Game of Thrones. The first season will consist of ten episodes, and it is not yet clear how long the show will run. The programme hasn’t been granted a second series yet, but presumably, if the first is a hit with audiences and critics, the next instalment will be greenlit.
“We have a very, very precise idea of where we wanna go with it, but we can’t tell you,” co-director Sapochnik told Comicbook.com. “I think that the important thing is that this is a… Think of this as an Episode IV, the Star Wars Episode IV. So it’s kind of, we’re in the middle of a history that is rich and full of stories to tell and it’s a good place to start.”
Discussing the show’s more immediate future, co-director Ryan Condal told Collider, “I think we have a fairly good plan laid out. Plans like that always have to be fairly broad, yet you have an idea of landmarks and places that you want to go to and a sense of an endpoint, which I think is really important, particularly with this story. There’s 170 years of history in front of us, so you have to figure out, at what point do you do lower the curtain on this particular story? We’ve always had a good sense of that. I think we have a good plan for season two if HBO is willing and eager to continue telling the story with us.”
Watch the official trailer for House of the Dragon below.
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