Game of Thrones may finally be coming to the big screen. The HBO TV show re-defined small screen dramas, making them more cinematic, so it’s long seemed like it would be a question of when, not if, a movie happens. There were even plans to end Game of Thrones with a trilogy of movies that would’ve been released in theaters, but that was shot down by the network in favor of Seasons 7 and 8. Since then, it’s been turned into a franchise with multiple spinoffs, and now the idea of a film is being revisited.
It’s been reported that a Game of Thrones movie is in development at Warner Bros., with Beau Willimon (House of Cards, Andor) writing the script. It’s still early days, but the reporting indicates that this will tell the story of Aegon’s Conquest, which united Westeros and started the Targaryen dynasty around 300 years before the events of the main series. There is also an Aegon’s Conquest TV show in development, with The Batman‘s Mattson Tomlin writing that one, and it seems as though studio execs will then pick between the two (though it’s not impossible to think they’ll do both and tell different parts of the story/timeline).
Aegon’s Conquest Makes Sense For WB, But Isn’t Actually A Great Story
Image via Jordi Gonzalez/Bantam
It’s easy to see why Aegon’s Conquest would be an attractive option to WB and/or HBO. It has Targaryens, a common factor in all the shows so far. It has a lot of action. It introduces the Iron Throne. And most of all, it has three large dragons, with which Aegon does said conquering, and that would create the perfect spectacle for taking Thrones to the big screen. It’s the kind of awesome event the franchise is known for, and so likely to generate plenty of excitement.
There is, however, a catch: Aegon’s Conquest just isn’t that interesting. Maybe that’s just me, but if the story is telling things from his point-of-view, then there’s a real issue in terms of stakes. Aegon has Westeros’ version of nuclear weapons; he’s an almost unstoppable force, and so much of the Conquest is just him, his sister-wives (Rhaenys and Visenya), and their dragons (Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes) defeating one kingdom after another. It’s too easy, which doesn’t make for compelling drama.
The resistance of Dorne, which uses guerilla tactics and its mountainous terrain in order to withstand the Targaryen invasion, does add one wrinkle, but there’s not too much beyond that to bring the sort of character development, thematic richness, and political machinations that made Game of Thrones so compelling. The spectacle there was astonishing, but it worked because it was on top of such rock-solid foundations, and it faltered when it became more about moments than it was characters.
That’s not to say there aren’t ways to make it work, and, in Willimon and Tomlin, there are two incredible writers working on these projects. The introduction of Aegon’s Song of Ice and Fire, his prophetic dream in which he foresaw the White Walkers, which was his real motive for invading, does make the central character more interesting. Willimon could flesh out the other lords and politics of the Seven Kingdoms more, bringing the same depth he helped Tony Gilroy et al deliver with Andor.
For my money, the most interesting way to do it would be from the perspective of the others: frame it almost as a horror, with Aegon’s dragons this horrifying force of nature, not too dissimilar to what Game of Thrones did a bit of in Season 8, Episode 5, “The Bells” with Arya Stark and the smallfolk of King’s Landing amid Daenerys Targaryen’s attack, only on a bigger scale and with stronger writing. That might not, of course, be the way they decide to showcase the supposed main character.
Andor itself wasn’t a project that many expected to be so great, so there’s still cause for optimism. But Aegon’s Conquest isn’t, or should just be viewed as, an easy, guaranteed slam dunk where it can simply lift the story as-is. It needs to change, and that makes it more interesting, but also a bigger challenge.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.
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