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House of the Dragon's Ryan Condal isn't fazed by the fact that the show is airing at the same time as Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In fact, as a high fantasy lover, he's pretty darn chuffed about it – and the benefits extend beyond his personal enjoyment.
As part of its 2022 Innovators List, TheWrap asked the showrunner what he made of the two epic prequels being on TV simultaneously, to which he admitted to being "a huge unapologetic [J.R. R.] Tolkien fan". Condal went on to say that reading The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and Lord of the Rings as a youngster influenced his passion for the genre. Seeing Peter Jackson's movie adaptations in the early 2000s, apparently, cemented it.
"Frankly, I want to live in a world where there's room for all of these things to exist if they're good," he added. "I think the need for more well-made expensive science-fiction/fantasy on television is what all of us nerds want. I don't think that somebody watching Rings of Power means they're not watching House of the Dragon, I don't see it that way. I see one feeds the other, and I think the more good quality genre entertainment on television, the more it's gonna draw in the general public who might not be so predisposed to watching this."
During the chat, Condal also noted how mainstream viewers are more likely to watch fantasy these days – a shift that was brought about in part by Game of Thrones.
"There was a lot of resistance around sort of 'normies' watching that show because they thought it was silly or goofy. But they got sucked in by the adult way in which George [R.R. Martin] and David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] told the story, the surprising turns of it, the way it actually turned fantasy on its ear," Condal claimed, referencing how much Martin was inspired by Tolkien in his novels.
"[All of] this has made fantasy mainstream and I think the more of these good, high-quality shows that come along make fantasy more mainstream. It makes a bigger audience, it means more of these shows can be made and be made in an interesting way that's not just popcorn mass entertainment, it's something with something hopefully interesting to say."
House of the Dragon is set to continue on Sunday, October 16 on HBO and HBO Max in the US, and the following day on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK. To ensure you never miss an episode, keep up to date with our House of the Dragon release schedule.
