10 Game of Thrones prequel series ideas
By Corey Smith
2. The Dance of the Dragons
Dragons fighting dragons. Need we say more? Yes? If we need to take the awesome up to eleven, here’s the lowdown. As alluded to by Shireen Baratheon shortly before her death, the Dance of the Dragons was a Targaryen civil war over control of the Iron Throne. Roughly midway through House Targaryen’s three hundred year dynasty over the Seven Kingdoms, and at perhaps the pinnacle of their power, House Targaryen erupted into civil war over the successor to King Viserys I.
Viserys had dictated that his only surviving child from his first marriage, a daughter named Rhaenyra would succeed him after his death. However, once Viserys died, his second wife plotted to seat her eldest son, Aegon upon the Iron Throne. The war that erupted over who would succeed Viserys was long, and bloody.
Before it was all over, dozens of dragons would perish, many in combat with one another, King’s Landing would be sacked, the Dragonpit destroyed in a riot, and half the Seven Kingdoms bathed in dragonfire. And that’s just scratching the surface.
HBO might need to up the special effects budget to film the series, but the Dance has all the hallmarks we have come to love from Westeros; epic battles, lust, betrayal, and of course, lots of dragons. Some of the major houses involved might be unknown to viewers, but many of the great houses we know and love are here as well. Familiarity would draw plenty of viewers, as would the dragons. Have we mentioned there are dragons?
The Dance was an event from which House Targaryen never fully recovered, and would give many viewers insight into why the dynasty that lasted three hundred years fell to Robert Baratheon decades later. Also, there are dragons. Lots of dragons.