George R.R. Martin Is Warding Off ‘House Of The Dragon’ Criticism In Advance: It’s Not ‘More Misogynistic Than Real Life’

With less than a month to go until the world of Westeros comes roaring back to life, House of the Dragon made a strong showing at Comic-Con where George R.R. Martin was on hand to answer questions about the prequel series. As shown in the most recent trailer, there is a great deal of concern over a woman potentially sitting on the Iron Throne as the male characters do everything in their power to prevent such an outcome. According to Martin, he and the writers are just sticking to history even though the show is infused with fantasy elements.

“I don’t think Westeros is particularly more anti-woman or more misogynistic than real life and what we call history,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly before diving into the real life events that inspired Westeros.

“I get inspiration from history, and then I take elements from history and I turn it up to 11,” the fantasy author said. “Games of Thrones is, as many people have observed, based very loosely on the War of the Roses. [House of the Dragon] is based on an earlier period in history called the Anarchy.”

Martin cited the life of Henry I, who was left with one illegitimate child, whom he named his heir. Once he died, her claim to the throne was challenged by her cousin and civil war broke out. Sounds pretty similar to the synopsis of House of the Dragon.

While that’s well and good, House of the Dragon has already stirred up controversy after showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik recently revealed that, like Game of Thrones, the prequel series would depict sexual assault. Like Martin, the showrunners cited history as their template.

“[We] don’t shy away from it,” Sapochnik told The Hollywood Reporter. “If anything, we’re going to shine a light on that aspect. You can’t ignore the violence that was perpetrated on women by men in that time. It shouldn’t be downplayed and it shouldn’t be glorified.”

House of the Dragon starts streaming August 21 on HBO Max.