House of the Dragon Showrunner Says Future Seasons of Game of Thrones Spinoff Could Become Anthology

By Patrick Cavanaugh

The upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon has yet to premiere, but the excitement surrounding the franchise already has fans speculating about how long the project could run, with showrunner Miguel Sapochnik hinting that future seasons could explore different points in time for the Targaryen family. Interestingly, these comments will spark an entirely different type of speculation among fans, as these remarks could mean that the storyline of the debut season could wrap up with its finale. Additionally, HBO has yet to officially announce a second season of the series, as they potentially wait to see how these first episodes perform. House of the Dragon premieres on HBO on August 21st.

"Absolutely. I think that's one of the interesting things about the Targaryens," Sapochnik shared with Entertainment Weekly about exploring other corners of the Targaryen lineage. "We've chosen a story that's almost like Star Wars: Episode IV. It's the [New Hope]. We can go backwards, we can go forwards. There's a lot of opportunities there. I hope we've been given the opportunity to set up something."

Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.

While long-running series like American Horror Story have found success by going the anthology route, whatever the future holds for House of the Dragon will surely rest on what the current plan might be for a sophomore season. Were the follow-up season to continue the story of this first season, it would make jumping forward to other points in time for subsequent seasons somewhat confusing for audiences. However, if Season 2 goes an anthology route right off the bat, it wouldn't be unheard for a season to return to the characters from Season 1 somewhere down the line.

Even with the built-in excitement of the project, it won't be a guaranteed success right out of the gate, especially with the history of the original Game of Thrones pilot being re-shot and with another spinoff only earning a pilot before HBO opted not to move forward with it.

"Generally speaking, pilots tend to be a lot to setup, and I was really, really keen on the idea of doing a pilot that was actually a story and moved you forward and got you engaged," the showrunner recalled of developing his series. "We worked really hard on trying to make it exciting and not just one of exposition."

Stay tuned for details on the future of House of the Dragon before it premieres on August 21st.

What would you like to see in future seasons of the series? Let us know in the comments below!

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