‘House of the Dragon’ Time Jump Explained, Why Executive Producer Was ‘Immediately Concerned’ About It
If you’re wondering why they changed the actors in House of the Dragon, it’s because there was a significant time jump in episode 6, “The Princess and the Queen.” The Game of Thrones prequel has already used time jumps; the largest we’ve seen so far is three years into the future. However, episodes 5 and 6 are separated by an entire decade. Find out what the time jump means for the story and how it was supposed to be “more extreme” than what the HBO series showed.
‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 6 jumps ahead 10-years
“The Princess and the Queen” jumps ahead 10 years in the House of the Dragon timeline. Emma D’Arcy now plays Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke is Alicent Hightower. In the 10 years that have passed, Rhaenyra has moved on from Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and has borne three children: Jacaerya, Lucerya, and Jeoffrey. Because they look nothing like their father Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), Alicent presumes the children are Harwin “Breakbones” Strong’s (Ryan Corr).
Speaking of Alicent, she also has three children with King Viserys (Paddy Considine): Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond. Other important plot points to note from the 10 year time jump in episode 6 include:
- Rhaenyra and Alicent have seats on the small council.
- Viserys’ decision to have Rhaenyra succeed him stands.
- Alicent has two allies: Ser Criston Cole and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham).
- Daemon (Matt Smith) and Laena (Nanna Blondell) have twin girls, Baela and Rhaena, and are expecting a third child, but Laena dies by suicide after commanding her dragon Vhagar to light her on fire.
‘House of the Dragon’ executive producer Miguel Sapochnik found the time jump in episode 6 ‘concerning’
As a guest on The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, executive producer Miguel Sapochnik admitted he was concerned about using such a vast jump in time. “The time jumps were in there from the start,” Sapochnik explained. “I want to say they were a little more extreme than they are now.” This makes sense, considering Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon. The book covers 150 years of Targaryen history, so we can certainly expect even more time jumps in the remaining episodes.
Sapochnik elaborated: “From age, if I remember correctly, it was ranging from maybe 12 or 13-years-old to 20, 22 years down the line. It was immediately concerning that we were doing a season that had as many time jumps as this has.”
Sapochnik believes “time jumps can be distracting [and] confusing” to an audience. “It’s rarely people say, ‘I love that time jump,'” he added. Still, Sapochnik believes if something is concerning, it’s worth leaning into.
‘House of the Dragon’ cast change was necessary for the leap in time
Many viewers knew Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent’s recast was coming thanks to the initial House of the Dragon teaser. However, that didn’t stop some confusion from developing among fans. Behind the scenes, Sapochnik saw this confusion coming, but hoped that by starting with the largest time jump and “drop[ping] everyone in it,” it would be easier for viewers to understand.
“We knew we had to recast our actors [and] that would discombobulate everyone anyway, [but] we can’t avoid it so we have to lean into it,” he admitted. Will there be more time jumps in future episodes of House of the Dragon? Tune in to HBO on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET to find out.
