House of the Dragon showrunner bills show as more Succession than Game of Thrones

The House of the Dragon co-showrunner says that Succession is a better comparison for the upcoming show than Game of Thrones.

A prequel series to Game of Thrones, HBO is hoping that House of the Dragon will reinvigorate interest in the franchise after the disappointing final season of Thrones.

Set during the reign of House Targaryen, long before the “Mad King” ruled, House of the Dragon will follow a battle over succession to the Iron Throne.

Unlike in Game of Thrones, where the death of the monarch led to political turmoil between families, in House of the Dragon it will be family infighting that is the root of the drama, as King Viserys (Paddy Considine) plans to hand down the crown to his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), but is opposed by his brother Daemon (Matt Smith).

As a result, in an interview with SFX magazine, co-showrunner Ryan Condal compared the upcoming series to another HBO show: Succession.

When asked by SFX if viewers should expect House of the Dragon to be “Succession with dragons,” Condal responded “Yeah, I think that’s actually a great metaphor, and the things we referenced in the [writers’] room the most were The Crown and Succession, just as tonal analogs.”

Condal went on to compare Game of Thrones to the War of the Roses, with separate families who were longtime enemies fighting each other, as opposed to House of the Dragon being within a singular family.

This leads to the appropriate comparison to Succession, which is dominated by the infighting children and patriarch of the Roy family for domination of their cable empire.

For Game of Thrones fans who loved the show’s political intrigue, it sounds as though House of the Dragon will be a fitting follow up.