The Dragon Demands

I think Elio & Linda said they're on vacation, but HUGE cover story update in Entertainment Weekly today: https://ew.com/tv/house-of-the-dragon-cover-story-game-of-thrones-enters-new-age/ Comes with our first cast video ever: Notes: Ryan Condal really seems to "get it" about what sets this specific prequel era apart from the others: "it's the Targaryens at their greatest height, and then the civil war that began their decline. It's the fall of Rome" - "when we start, it's an era of decadence and great wealth", "there's been peace for over 50 years, 70 by later in season one, there hasn't been a major war in living memory so they've gotten complacent" -- all great stuff. Jaehaerys I Targaryen has been cast: veteran English actor Michael Carter (he also played Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi) We got a promo photo of Jaehaerys in full costume presiding over the Great Council at Harrenhal (bit of a condensation but I'm all for it). Photo also confirms rumor that Sian Brooke has been cast as Aemma Arryn. We also see Garry Cooper as Ryam Redwyne. (We actually heard rumors about who was playing Jaehaerys and Aemma months ago, but I didn't report on the Jaehaerys one because it was just too big of a spoiler; some of you may remember I said "it's someone who had a speaking role in a Star Wars movie, but you wouldn't recognize the actor's name, it's not like a household name" - he's more of a stage actor) They're apparently keeping the detail that "Rhaenys lost the vote by twenty to one" because Eve Best mentions this in the video. They're apparently keeping the detail that "the Velaryons are actually an older House than the Targaryens in a sense, because they settled Driftmark centuries before the Doom of Valyria, as a remote trade outpost between Valyria and Westeros. The Targaryens came much later." etc. Corlys actor mentions it. Intriguing notes on the audition process give insight into how they see the actors? They all say they auditioned with placeholder dialogue and didn't even know what role they were auditioning for: Milly Alcock (Young Rhaenyra) mentions they gave her ARYA dialogue as a placeholder in the audition sheet Olivia Cooke (Alicent) says they gave her CERSEI dialogue as a placeholder in the audition sheets Steve Toussaint (Corlys) says they gave him TYWIN dialogue as a placeholder in the audition sheets

Oh...um...the leak was so big, so controversial, and so accurate...that the behind the scenes crowd sharing spy reports over on the subreddit was hesitant to make it public...then someone blabbed about it on Twitter. HBO finally took notice and initiated a purge across Twitter, Reddit, possibly YouTube as well, scouring all major spy reports. I won't share it now, after that backlash. I'll only say that I think it's real, and that as a book reader I didn't have a problem with it.

Well Martin came up with the idea right after the late 1980s so....I think we're talking Highlander rules.

oh god...a thought occurs: Jon Snow is actually a "fire-wight" now (as GRRM calls it), like Beric Dondarrion. He's not really "alive", he's a sentient zombie. Which means he can't have children...and can't age. A sequel might not be the "Season 9 cast reunion" everyone is hyping. What if Jon Snow lives for hundreds of years? In short...what if Jon Snow is the Last Knight of Camelot? Famous short story by Roger Zelazny that Martin adapted for a 1980s Twilight Zone episode. About Lancelot living to the present day, Merlin comes out of a magical stasis and wants to take over the world with kings and fantasy again, but Lancelot insists that age is gone and never coming back, they fight at Stonehenge. Fattest Leech would know more...

oh yeah

still a work in progress, I have to research everything

Time travel franchise reset? Like X-Men: Days of Future Past ?

Wow. Well if this is Kit himself pushing for “Season 8 really wasn’t ‘the perfect send off’ for my character” - if this is Kit having a Ray Fisher moment and finally breaking ranks with Benioff and Weiss…I’m all for it. (pause) You know, if there’s a secret FIFTH live action prequel in development…he logically wouldn’t tell us. Anymore than that there was a fourth one this entire time. My fear now is that this will delay the live action Wild Cards series at Peacock.

I’m not comparing, just someone said interest on HotD was low

Guys, remember that IMDB statistics show more interest in HotD than the LOTR prequel.

Well now the real question is if they leaked out the accurate Jon Snow rumors on purpose, to boost HotD buzz, or if this leak is actually a hindrance overshadowing HotD. (shrug) I was wrong. I’m intrigued if it is indeed true that this was Kit Harington’s own idea.

Well, that’s our best case scenario now.

....Emilia Clarke just confirmed that the Jon Snow sequel is real. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61896580 ....Wow. ...Maybe this isn't a cash grab by HBO's new masters at Discovery (though they would be very happy). .....if it's true that this is "Kit Harington's creation"....big "if"...maybe this is a giant screw-you from Harington that Season 8 was "the perfect ending" for his character. Maybe he's fully aware of all the backlash to the character he played for a decade and HE wants the last word on him instead of Benioff and Weiss.

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HBO just started a new promotional event today, "Day of the Dragon"...

I was wrong: this past Sunday was not 2 months before the premiere but NINE weeks out. NEXT weekend is two months out…and also the big Westworld season 4 premiere…

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yeah

but what would it do for Arya's character arc? They don't think of Arya as a character who grows and changes. They froze her as "badass little girl" after Season 1.

It's amazing when you ask non-book readers who keep pleading "hey can't we have an Arya sequel or something?", amazing when you ask them "list off specific plotlines you think they could actually do" and they really can't think of any.

As I said ser I'm starting to think my initial conclusion was wrong, and this may be a fake leak that HBO itself propagated to generate buzz for other prequel projects.

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Well I calmed down and made this 8 minute audio-only clip here, revising my earlier position: I think it far more likely that this is a MARKETING STUNT for House of the Dragon.