House of the Dragon Will Be Influenced by Game of Thrones, But Not 'Fan Servicey'

Game of Thrones fans may be anxiously awaiting the premiere of the prequel spinoff House of the Dragon, but they shouldn't expect the new HBO series to be filled with fan service to the original. According to executive producers Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon will be influenced by Game of Thrones' tone and voice rather than filled with "Easter eggs" for fans to find.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the pair started off by acknowledging that the show is no doubt inspired by its predecessor. One example given was that the House of the Dragon writers used Game of Thrones' infamous "chaos is a ladder" scene between Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and Varys (Conleth Hill) in Season 3 as a major reference point. This, according to Condal, was because he wanted to "show the writers a specific scene that for [him] defined what Game of Thrones was."

"I think [tone and voice] are the two most important things that made that show what it was," Condal said. "Those two things, I think, are the things that most orient people into that world. And those were the things we had to recreate first, if we had any hope of any success."

Outside of having a similar tone and voice to Game of Thrones, the producers said there will, of course, be familiar locations, themes, and recognizable items such as the Balerion skull, but those items are used only when necessary. Audiences shouldn't expect a deluge of nods to the original series, according to Sapochnik.

"It's really easy to get carried away with all of the Easter eggs and all of the nods here and there," he said, with Condal agreeing, adding, "I'm always very suspicious of those 'cause they feel fan servicey."

"If there's a real reason to do it, if there's something that has story resonance or spiritual resonance and there's a reason to do it, then I think it's great because it's a way of connecting these two things over this vast chasm of 170 years," Condal continued. "There's a lot of resonance with the original series."

Sapochnik concluded, "We've gotta be careful 'cause it's gotta be our own."

House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21 at 9 PM ET.

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Kirstie Renae is a writer, blogger, and Austin-based actress with a penchant for binge-watching TV with her dogs. Follow her on Twitter @KirstieRenae.