Weeks after House of the Dragon’s season 2 finale, I’m finding myself mostly concerned for the future of HBO’s Game of Thrones spinoffs. First and foremost, I feel like it’s important to clarify that I mostly enjoyed the divisive second season and feel like many of the complaints about it were oversimplified or misplaced. Still, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address one aspect of the House of the Dragon season 2 ending that I see as a grueling issue that could continue to negatively impact future shows.
Aside from House of the Dragon season 3, HBO has several other Game of Thrones spinoffs in development. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 is set to premiere in early 2025 and will be our next venture into Westeros. Aegon’s Conquest has also been greenlit, but it’s still unclear how far away its premiere could be. Beyond that, several other shows are being worked on, but they’re in the early stages of conceptualization. I see House of the Dragon having a domino effect on all of their success, which is partially why I’m concerned by the divisive response.
House Of The Dragon’s Ties To Game Of Thrones Raise Larger Franchise Concerns
Aegon’s Dream Continues To Remind Audiences Of Game Of Thrones Season 8
Daemon Targaryen’s Harrenhal plot line in season 2 was one of the show’s most critiqued, as the series arguably underutilized one of its most exciting talents in Matt Smith. The finale saw him envision Aegon’s Dream, finally convincing him to return to Rhaenyra’s side and support her in the coming war. It’s not the first time Aegon’s Dream has appeared in the show after first being introduced by Viserys Targaryen in the series premiere. In the season 2 finale, it directly shows imagery relating to Game of Thrones.
Aegon’s Dream banks on audiences knowing the plot of Game of Thrones and seeing the Long Night as some sort of existential threat. But it’s foreshadowing an event that we’ve already seen and that ultimately didn’t work, and continuous reminders of it are always going to be divisive. My biggest concern after season 2’s finale is that House of the Dragon is using Aegon’s Dream as some sort of connective tissue to tie the shows together when the franchise should really be trying to distance itself from Game of Thrones’ reputation as much as possible.
Aegon’s Dream Was Utilized Well In HOTD Season 1 (But Not Season 2)
House Of The Dragon Didn’t Need To Bring Back Aegon’s Dream In The Season 2 Finale
On the one hand, Aegon’s Dream was an excellent way to connect House of the Dragon to Game of Thrones in season 1. It served as the perfect connecting point between the two shows that simultaneously wasn’t obstructive to the Dance of the Dragons plot but was also notable enough for fans to understand the importance of the prequel’s events. In the sense of Aegon’s Dream being a plot device for House of the Dragon, it serves as a metaphor for the realm’s unity and for Targaryen self-importance.
Under Viserys and, subsequently, Rhaenyra, the realm is being led as a united front to protect itself against the Long Night. This heightens the risk of the Dance, because if the secret of Aegon’s Dream is lost in the war through Rhaenyra dying, then the realm ultimately won’t be prepared for the White Walkers and will end up in the state we see at the start of Game of Thrones. But it also represents the idea of the Targaryen god complex, where the royal family considers themselves to be the only ones capable of defending the realm from evil.
Limiting Aegon’s Dream to just that would’ve been genius. These are great ideas that raise the stakes of the Dance. On the contrary, the usage of the dream in the season 2 finale felt shoehorned in to show snippets of Game of Thrones and yet was directly used to change the course of one of the main character’s arcs. Daemon already seemed to be leaning toward returning to Rhaenyra, and it felt wrong that the final reason that shifted him was a practically unrelated, supernatural element.
Aegon’s Conquest Spinoff Shouldn’t Continue To Explore Aegon’s Dream
Aegon’s Conquest Would Be Meaningful Without Game Of Thrones References
The Game of Thrones spinoff I’m most concerned about is Aegon’s Conquest because it seems more than likely that it will continue to utilize the dream. Having an entire show where a character is motivated by the potential future of Game of Thrones season 8 seems like a disaster, especially if it continues to loop more characters into the idea for more cohesion. For example, theories suggest that Aegon the Conqueror told Torrhen Stark about his dream, leading to his surrender.
I see no need for Game of Thrones spinoffs to be self-referential and webbed together as part of one larger story.
This theory seems like a possibility for the TV series to explore, as it would expand on this connective tissue House of the Dragon created. But the Game of Thrones franchise doesn’t need that connective tissue. With no disrespect to Marvel or Star Wars, it’s explicitly not the same world as either of those franchises, as Game of Thrones gained its reputation as a culture-changing show by subverting typical expectations of fantastical media. I see no need for Game of Thrones spinoffs to be self-referential and webbed together as part of one larger story.
Game Of Thrones Spinoffs Should Explore Individual Stories
Game Of Thrones Shows Don’t Need To All Directly Connect
Part of why George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire book series is so prolific because of its immense world building. There are a plethora of stories to tell based on the seeds he’s laid in his world, and attempting to connect them all as some sort of franchise is entirely unnecessary. That’s why the 10,000 Ships series is one of my most anticipated, as it will pull away from King’s Landing and the Targaryen dynasty and explore an equally compelling but far-away corner of Martin’s world. It would also be impossible for it to directly connect to Game of Thrones.
With everything that went wrong with Game of Thrones season 8, future shows shouldn’t be trying to expand on that ending by adding context to it. The way forward for this franchise is to explore individual narratives and expand upon the mythology George R.R. Martin has created. There are so many fascinating stories that I’d love to see in his world that have nothing to do with Game of Thrones, and that’s okay.
Can Game Of Thrones Fix Its Franchise Problem?
The Only Hope Would Be A Show Set After GoT, But It’s Risky
As previously mentioned, the biggest problem with trying to franchise Game of Thrones is that we already know the ending and its flaws. The only way to amend this and create more connections between the shows would be to create a show set after Game of Thrones season 8 that could somehow expand on the ideas of the Long Night and the White Walkers. This would be incredibly risky, and I have no idea how they’d even go about it without it feeling shoehorned.
Perhaps, after The Winds of Winter and The Dream of Spring finally release, there might be some additional material worth exploring toward the end of that timeline. The Jon Snow show could’ve been a possibility, but again, it’s an enormous risk for little reward. HBO doesn’t need all of these shows to connect for them to be successful. If they’re compelling fantasy dramas of their own, audiences will watch them and enjoy them. I just don’t want to see House of the Dragon and the Game of Thrones spinoffs try to be something that they aren’t.