See George R.R. Martin on the set of House of the Dragon

Earlier this year, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin visited the set of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, as he revealed on his Not a Blog. Although Martin has been consulting on House of the Dragon this whole time, he’d never actually visited the set before, and he was very impressed.

“All I have to say about that is… ohmigod!” Martin wrote. “I am no stranger to film sets. I have worked off and on in television and film since 1986, where I joined the staff of the TWILIGHT ZONE revival at CBS. I still recall the rush where I saw them building Stonehenge on the sound stage behind my office, for an episode I’d written. And of course I visited the GAME OF THRONES shoots in Belfast, Scotland, Morocco, and Malta. Those were incredible too.”

"But nothing I have ever seen can compare with the Red Keep and Dragonstone sets they have built at Leavesden Studios in London. HUGE, stunning, and so damned real that I felt as if I had gone through a time portal to medieval Westeros. I love castles and have visited dozens of actual medieval castles, keeps, and towers in my time, and none of the real castles I’ve ever seen can hold a candle… or a torch… to our Red Keep."

He also posted a picture of himself and House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal on the set, standing in front of a weirwood tree. Take a look:

Where do we think they are? There’s a weirwood tree in a courtyard in the Red Keep, but this doesn’t look like the same one. Might this be a weirwood tree at Harrenhal, which we know we’ll visit in House of the Dragon season 2? Then again, Martin only mentioned the sets for the Red Keep and Dragonstone in his post.

But back to the sets themselves, they are indeed spectacular. I’m reminded of the first scene of Episode 6, “The Princess and the Queen,” where Rhaenyra gives birth to her son Joffrey and takes him to see Alicent. She and her husband Laenor walk through the Red Keep and we see how huge the set is:

It must be a thrill to walk around this environment. “A time portal to medieval Westeros” indeed.

George R.R. Martin confirms that House of the Dragon will last at least through season 4

Martin also mentioned that he spent a couple of days locked in a room with the other writers talking about seasons 3 and 4 of the show, confirming that the show will last at least that long. We still don’t know exactly how long the show will last — four seasons sounds about right to us — but it’s good to get a little insight into what the team is planning.

Finally, Martin said he saw the first two episodes of House of the Dragon season 2. Strap in, y’all. “Of course, I am hardly objective when talking about anything based on my own work,” he qualified, “but I have to say, I thought both episodes were just great.  (And they are not even finished yet).”

"Dark, mind you. Very dark. They may make you cry. (I did not cry myself, but one of my friends did). Powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, heart rending. Just the sort of thing I like. (What can I say? I was weaned on Shakespeare, and love the tragedies and history plays best of all)."

The second season of House of the Dragon is due out on HBO and Max sometime in the summer of 2024.

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