HBO to order pilot for a Dance of Dragons spin-off show

[Werthead]

HBO are to order a second Game of Thrones spin-off pilot. This second show, being helmed by Ryan Condal, is about the Dance of Dragons.

What this means for Bloodmoon/The Longest Night - that HBO has passed on it or will be airing two Westeros shows at the same time - is unknown.

[divica]

I think this has more potential than "the long night" because of how the show handled the ww.

On the other hand, are they really going to make a show about targs and dragons after they depicted danny as a psico and dragons dying pretty easy? Like really? Are they nuts?

[Ran]

They can use the whole "Well, dragons are only easily killable by Qyburn's magical giant scorpions!" thing to make it more exciting.

Honestly, I'd like it if they just forgot about that, showed "regular" scorpions try to kill dragons, and mostly watch them wildly fail.

I hope they actually have the dragonriders use saddles and chains to keep themselves in place, too, but... eh. 

[DisneyDoc2425]

The War of the Dance of Dragons occurred during a Targaryen civil war in 130 AC and lasted about a year. It was a war between King Aegon II and Queen Rhaenyra fighting for the throne. King Aegon had 6 dragons verses Queen Rhaenyra's 15 dragons (one too young for war). By the end of the war only 4 dragons remained. The dragons were mainly killed fighting one another but around 5 were killed by the people of Kings Landing during a storming of the Dragonpit, which occurred towards the end of the war. In spite of the disparity in the number of dragons King Aegon won the war and fed his sister Queen Rhaenyra to his dragon Sunfyre (with Queen Rhaenyra's son, the future King Aegon III, watching). All the remaining Targaryen dragons were gone by153AC. While a number of dragon eggs remained no one was able to subsequently hatch any of them until Daenerys.

[divica]

41 minutes ago, Ran said:

They can use the whole "Well, dragons are only easily killable by Qyburn's magical giant scorpions!" thing to make it more exciting.

Honestly, I'd like it if they just forgot about that, showed "regular" scorpions try to kill dragons, and mostly watch them wildly fail.

I hope they actually have the dragonriders use saddles and chains to keep themselves in place, too, but... eh. 

You basically want them to reboot nearly everything GOT did with the dragons…

By the way, the only dragon fight we had in GOT (danny and jon vs the NK) was a disapointment. If they want to make a series about dance they need to completly change the mechanics in dragon fighting… 

But I also think it is much easier to have a clean slate about the dragons than other issues related to GOT because they can always say that danny was winging it and didn t know how the targs rode dragons in the past (kind of stupid but they can use that excuse).

I also don t know if it won t feel like the armies are meaningless and only the dragons are important to win the battles...

[The Dragon Demands]

So the three GRRM said were still in contention were Long Night, Dance of the Dragons, and Valyria?

Fourth must have been Targaryen Conquest.  What the heck was the fifth?  Young Tywin and the Reyne Rebellion?

I used to assume Cogman was doing Young Tywin, because it was announced last...now it seems it was announced last due to Cogman’s busy schedule ( which ultimately led to his departure from it).  Actually we later learned that GRRM handpicked and assigned Cogman his prequel, which was when I started suspecting it might actually have been the Dance.

[The Dragon Demands]

I greatly look forward to new Elio & Linda videos discussing / theorizing how they might adapt the Dance.  It has been too long, I almost lost hope.  You said you were going to make all sorts of stuff on new Fire & Blood material.

[Dragon in the North]

4 hours ago, divica said:

I think this has more potential than "the long night" because of how the show handled the ww.

On the other hand, are they really going to make a show about targs and dragons after they depicted danny as a psico and dragons dying pretty easy? Like really? Are they nuts?

I’m not sure why any of that will be an issue. Just because Danerys turned dark doesn’t mean that all Targaryens are like her, especially with the whole “gods flip a coin” saying. And the dragons were not depicted as dying easy. Viserion was killed by a powerful, supernatural being and Rhaegal was killed while severely injured in an ambush by a weapon that wouldn’t have been invented yet. I don’t think the show is going to have any problems, at least not regarding this.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

With the story out on the possibility of something coming from the Fire and Blood book verse, I wonder if HBO will say something soon.  Also, from my reading, it doesn't seem certain that it would definitely be the Dance of Dragons time period, just that it would be something from the Fire and Blood period.  I wonder what would be the best time period to try and kick start a series out of it.  The beginning of the Targs being the beginning....or........not? 

https://deadline.com/2019/09/house-targaryen-prequel-game-of-thrones-series-ryan-condal-george-rr-martin-hbo-1202732221/

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/12/game-of-thrones-prequel-targaryens/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_ew&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=link&utm_term=6C1F5660-D5A7-11E9-86E0-8DF94744363C

 

 

 

[Rose of Red Lake]

How about a Lifetime movie. "What Happens When People Think They're Gods When They're Not: The Story of Westeros' Most 'Nuclear' Family"

Or a mockumentary, Arrested Development style. "Now the story of a pompous family who lost everything, and the young king who had no choice but to rule the realm after they destroyed each other."

[Lord Varys]

I've already posted this in the other thread, but if you are only reading here there is it again. And note that I'm saying this as a guy who has been obsessed with the Dance for, well, about 14 years now...

Not particularly keen about a Dance show. There is not much character development in FaB in that department, and to start it in medias res (i.e. shortly before or immediately when the Dance starts) wouldn't make much narrative sense. And then - a war that lasted only two+ years means this could be only 2-3 seasons if they stick to the old routine, with most of the dragon fights taking place in the first and early second season.

There wouldn't be a great climax but a war ending with a whimper, and a continuation in the Regency era - while actually having a lot of character development - would feel really awkward, sort of like some sort of chamber drama.

There are some good buildup elements if such a show started with the prelude to the Dance, but there are not many interesting characters or plots there, especially not in the 121-129 AC period.

And if they actually covered the early reign of Viserys I then they would have to recast crucial characters as they grew older, at least the many children - speaking about them: there are too many and, yes, they are too young again ;-).

The Hightowers and Viserys I and Laenor-Rhaenyra and some Daemon tidbits could be fun - as would all the events in 120 AC - but aside from that there isn't really that much interesting potential.

I guess it could be fun if they really decided to play out the Dance and take things very slowly by properly introducing many of the characters and slowly building up the war as such - meaning that a first season would end with the death of Princess Rhaenys, say, the second with the fall of King's Landing, the third with the Battle Above the Gods Eye, the fourth with Rhaenyra's death, and the fifth with Aegon III's coronation.

A good way to give us background would be to make extensive use of flashbacks, possibly making the series take place in two different times.

If they slowly uncovered and explained the rivalry between Rhaenyra and Alicent by showing us their past, exploring the parentage of Rhaenyra's sons, the hatred between Daemon and Otto, the issue between Aemond and Lucerys, etc. this could actually be both entertaining and fun.

But the story overall would still have no good ending, and, actually, no good theme that is worth to be told aside from the obvious - families shouldn't kill each other and succession wars are always stupid (not to mention one should not listen to weirdo advisers). Which one would have already learned by watching the previous show.

And if I have to guess they would likely not cast and portray Rhaenyra as a not-so-sympathetic plump, compulsive woman... Which leads us to the fact that this show - if adapting the material faithfully - would be seriously lacking in heroes. Aside from Addam of Hull, Jacaerys Velaryon, and Baela Targaryen there are no main characters in the story that could be presented as proper heroes - and only two of those would have a reasonable amount of screen time.

[Mwm]

The numerous  articles make it sound like this will be a Fire And Blood anthology show starting with the conquest 300 years prior, not solely on the Dance.