'House of the Dragon' Creator Breaks Silence Amidst Controversial Criticism of Velaryons

Showrunner Ryan Condal silences critics with this explanation for their casting choices.

"House of the Dragon"'s historical setting is 200 years before the original series and is centered on the Targaryen dynasty based off from George R.R. Martin's "A song of Ice and Fire" books, and the HBO television series, "Game of Thrones". The series first premiered on August 21 on HBO. 

Since its release, the series has released online backlash amidst "racial controversy" following several stars being harassed for not living up to fan expectations. Specifically, critics have targeted the portrayal of the fictional House Velaryon. 

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'House of the Dragon' Creator Slams Back at Critics

In an interview for TheGrill, showrunner Ryan Condal finally addressed the online backlash for making the characters of House Velaryon people of color and alluded to the fantasy genre of the show.

"This is a fantasy world. I think if this was a historical fiction piece, it'd be a more nuanced discussion. But I think simply because of the fantasy world, if we believe in dragons, and shapeshifters and direwolves, we can believe everybody in the story is not white." Ryan Condel explained

Additionally, Ryan Condel stated that he was inspired by an article he read that George R.R. Martin initially set out to write the Velaryons as "Black people with silver hair" and that Ryan liked that visual better. Thus, Condel stood by his decision to achieve this vision for the Velaryon dynasty.

"I think the reason that it's been a successful choice, frankly - I mean, not everybody's ever going to be happy - the reason it was successful is because it was thought out, it wasn't just done perfunctorily or wasn't just done to tick a box or to be seen as progressive or to be seen as somebody that's covering all the bases or anything like that." Ryan Condel explained.

The "House of the Dragon" first season will reportedly have eight episodes.The prequel series has been renewed by HBO for a second season following its successful premiere, garnering an average of 29 million viewers. 

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