House of the Dragon Fixed George R.R. Martin's Least Favorite Game of Thrones Scene
According to the author of the original novels, the hunting scene from GoT season 1 wasn't nearly as impressive as it was supposed to be.
Summary:
- Game of Thrones wasn't always the pop culture phenomenon it is today, so the show's resources were initially quite limited
- As a result, George R.R. Martin considers the underwhelming hunting scene from the first season to be his least favorite in the series
- When House of the Dragon introduced a very similar scene years later, the show's creators finally got it right
Even though Game of Thrones has been on a slow decline ever since the show's creators ran out of source material to rely on, resulting in an absolutely disastrous final season, there is no denying that it remains one of the greatest shows of all time.
The series became an unprecedented success, had a massive impact on popular culture, and to this day gives many other fantasy projects a run for their money, remaining one of the greatest installments in the genre.
The Show Had Limited Resources in Its Early Years
That wasn't always the case, however, and Game of Thrones had a long way to go from its 2011 debut to become the pop culture phenomenon it is more than a decade later.
Because of this, in the show's early years, its creators couldn't afford to have every scene perfectly translate their artistic vision to the screen.
In an interview with James Hibberd for his book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, George R.R. Martin, the author of the original novels, revealed that his least favorite scene in the entire series actually took place way back in the first season.
According to Martin, at the time the show had a relatively small budget of around $6 million per episode, so when it came to depicting King Robert I Baratheon's fateful boar hunt, resources were quite limited.
The Royal Hunt Was Supposed to Look Impressive
Although this particular scene wasn't in the novel, the author knew what royal hunting parties were like, and what was shown on the screen was nowhere near it, as there were supposed to be hundreds of people, horses, dogs, and countless pavilions.
Instead, the king was just walking through the woods with his friends holding spears, which, in the author's opinion, turned out to be quite disappointing.
This comes as quite a surprise, as the show has had its fair share of extremely underwhelming moments, especially in the later seasons, so one can only wonder why Martin considers this one his least favorite of all.
Thankfully, when the prequel series House of the Dragon arrived in 2022 and introduced a very similar scene of King Viserys I Targaryen hunting, the show's creators were finally able to show it in all its royal glory.
The second season of House of the Dragon is expected to be released in the summer of 2024, although no specific date has been announced.
Source: Entertainment Weekly