Game of Thrones Prequel Showrunners Were Worried About Too Many White People in Book

The showrunners for the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon were alarmed by the number of white characters in George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the novel on which the series is based.

Co-showrunner Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly that he and Miguel Sapochnik knew that putting as many white characters on screen as the book created was a no-no.

They wouldn't do it. They couldn't do it.

As a result, Condal said they had to do some "reimagining" and decided to change House Velaryon members from white to black.

"It was very important for Miguel and I to create a show that was not another bunch of white people on the screen, just to put it very bluntly," Condal explained.

What a relief.



Condal adds he's a lifelong fantasy junkie but is very irked by the lack of diversity and inclusion in the fantasy novels from the 50s.

"The world is very different now than it was 10 years ago when  all started. It's different than 20 years ago when Peter Jackson made the Lord of the Rings. These types of stories need to be more inclusive than they traditionally have been," Condal concludes.

Do not underestimate HBO's influence on Condal and Sapochnik changing the skin colors of the characters in Martin's novel. HBO was subject to claims of racism in 2021 when it aired Friends: The Reunion. HBO didn't like that.

Critics have been on a warpath against Friends creator Marta Kauffman and anyone involved in that series for casting too many white people on screen 25 years ago.

Kauffman is still apologizing decades later. Earlier this month, she apologized again, this time with a $4 million donation to African and African American studies at Brandeis University. However, Twitter users have still not forgiven her.

Condal and Sapochnik certainly wanted to avoid decades worth of apologies. Therefore, we are glad to know the showrunners of the next Game of Thrones series are at ease.

The viewers, of course, don't care about the characters' skin colors, whether people with swords, dragons, and ships are white, black, or greyscale. Instead, fans just want strong storytelling and a lot of fire and blood.

House of the Dragon has promise in those categories. The show is set 200 years before the events of Thrones and tells the tale of a brutal Targaryen civil war.

Targaryen characters include King Viserys (portrayed by Paddy Considine), Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), and Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) — some of the most vital ancestors of Jon and Daenerys.

While the showrunners are now most known for their fears of too many white characters, Sapochnik is one of the more skilled directors in television. Thrones turned to him as the director for its most notable action-packed episodes, including "Hardhome," "Battle of the Bastards," "The Winds of Winter," "The Long Night," and "The Bells."

So, change the skin colors of any characters you need and make whatever adjustments to appease the critics who won't watch the show.  Just make sure to give fans episodes like "Battle of the Bastards" -- but with dragons -- and they'll tune in. 

Hopefully, Condal and Sapochnik have spent as much time on upcoming battle scenes as they have on proactively protecting themselves from the woke.