House of the Dragon: the showrunner talks about the coming Dance of Dragons

House of the Dragon, the hit series set in the Game of Thrones universe and based on George R.R. Martin's novel, Fire and Blood, has recently come to the conclusion of its first season, marking a debut that once again raises the bar for fantasy series. The show ended with a mighty cliffhanger that teases the beginning of the Dance of Dragons, open war between the Targaryens for the Iron Throne. So much so that the showrunner, Ryan Condal, wanted to deepen the conversation about the season finale.

Spoiler warning from this point onwards.

A cliffhanger that precedes the Dance of Dragons

The tragic death of Lucerys at the hands of Aemond and his dragon will light the final spark for the conflict between Targaryens to blow up once and for all, even though this wasn’t exactly Aemond’s objective. That is how Ryan Condal explained it in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “Aemond is definitely not blameless in what happened to Luke. But Aemond was also a kid who was bullied and was made a mockery for part of his life for not having a dragon. Now he does, and he rides the biggest dragon in the world. I think he was showing his rival that he will not be intimidated and trifled with is probably more in play there than trying to become a kinslayer – that would be very un-calculated and stupid of Aemond to do”

He continued, “for Aemond to launch nukes right out of the gate and go for an all-out dragon war would be very foolish, but that’s exactly what he ends up doing because things get out of hand and out of control. It’s a complex scene. Aemond is not blameless, but he’s also not a psychopath without a logical line of thinking.”

The death of young Lucerys will end all chances that Rhaenyra will try to fix things by diplomatic means, with the final scene of the episode and season being a declaration of what is to come: “Rhaenyra is focused on the fact that she sees herself as uniquely capable of ruling without stoking war and keep keeping the realm united. It’s the thing her father raised her her entire life to know and pursue as a sovereign. And she does not think that Aegon is capable of that. And on a more personal level, this is her birthright that her father gave her. That’s the thing you see her struggling with throughout the finale. She doesn’t just immediately turn around and say, “You know what? I’m going to war.”

House of the Dragon fans will have to steel themselves with patience if they want to continue the story and the coming Dance of Dragons, since the second season will not arrive before 2024.

Source | The Hollywood Reporter