Game of Thrones has been making bold strides forward as it expands beyond the original series. In addition to the prequel series House of the Dragon being a hit, the franchise successfully launched a second prequel-spinoff show, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which seems to be an even bigger hit. There has also been a wave of new projects announced that won’t be in live-action TV format, and the biggest one is a Game of Thrones movie that is reportedly moving down the development pipeline, fast.
Early reports indicate that the Game of Thrones movie is going to focus on the story of Aegon I, better known as “Aegon the Conqueror,” the man who came to Westeros from across the sea and claimed most of the Seven Kingdoms under Targaryen rule. Aegon’s story has loomed over every single Game of Thrones show that there is, and fans have long desired to actually see that tale told onscreen. However, a movie is not what a lot of fans expected, and there’s some lingering disappointment that this is the direction the franchise has chosen to go in.
Aegon The Conqueror’s Story Should’ve Been A Game of Thrones Miniseries (And Almost Was)
I don’t think I’m alone in saying: I’m slightly disappointed that we didn’t get the Aegon the Conqueror TV series that many fans wanted. The movie format is understandable, given the storyline: Aegon grows up and becomes Lord of Dragonstone, marries his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, and claims the great dragon Balerion. After fighting overseas, Aegon returns to Dragonstone with a thirst to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, and promptly embarks on a campaign to do so. That campaign ends with Aegon fashioning the Iron Throne from the swords of his slain enemies, and the Targaryen family as the undisputed rulers of Westeros.
That’s a pretty solid foundation for a feature film, that’s clear, and with a movie-sized budget, the sequences of dragon riders going to war and armies colliding presumably be bigger and more epic than any Game of Thrones episode could ever be. However, there’s a lot to be learned from the successes and failures of Game of Thrones‘ recent franchise expansion push.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has become a major talking point with industry analysts in part because it broke the mold of a traditional GoT show, leading with a more comedic and earnest tone, and running shorter episodes (30-35-minutes) that added up to a tight six-episode miniseries. Even though AKotSK is already speeding through pre-production on Season 2, if it had ended with Season 1, we’d still have a near-perfect standalone story. The story of Aegon the Conqueror is one that many fans wanted as a standalone miniseries, and it’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t have been as successful in its execution as AKotSk.
But let’s focus on cost vs. benefit: The spectacle of Aegon’s conquest will benefit greatly from the feature film format; however, the cost may be in the storytelling. While the details of the conquest are known, Aegon I and (just as importantly) his sister-wives Visenya (eldest) and Rhaenys (youngest) are completely unknown – outside of the descriptions that series creator George R.R. Martin has written into various novels, novellas, and resource texts. A longerform of storytelling had a better chance of fleshing out these pivotal characters, and those associated with them, during the formative years of the Seven Kingdoms. More importantly, the deeper character study allowed by a TV show could’ve explored more of the seeds of madness, desire, and power that would both ensure Targaryen rule for 300 years and eventually ensure the downfall of that same dynasty.
The hardest part about this that a TV version of Aegon’s Conquest was in the works. Two years ago, Mattson Tomlin (The Batman: Part II) spoke openly about developing the show for HBO alongside George R.R. Martin, saying, “It starts with what George has done. I’ve now gotten to spend quite a bit of time with him, and there have been a lot of pinch-me moments of just kind of going through Fire and Blood, highlighting passages, and asking him, What did this mean? What is this? What I think it is. You know sometimes really grilling him going, I don’t understand, what’s happening here.”
We may never hear the full internal workings at HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery that led to the change in format. Then again, things have been so volatile at the studio since it went looking for a merger deal; nothing about changes, at any level, should surprise us anymore.
And so, the Game of Thrones story about Aegon’s Conquest will be a movie. Hopefully a satisfying one. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
