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Toothless, the dragon from How To Train Your Dragon, played a crucial role in helping the director of House Of The Dragon construct the battle between Lucerys Targaryen and Aemond Targaryen.
Even before its official airing, House Of The Dragon promised to deliver numerous intense battles between the mightiest and most ruthless dragons of the Targaryen lineage. The final episode of the first season lived up to this promise, featuring a fiery clash amidst a storm between Lucerys Targaryen and his uncle, Aemond Targaryen.
In order to prepare for this climactic segment, Greg Yaitanes, the director of House Of The Dragon, extensively researched various works. Among them were the iconic film Jurassic Park and the renowned animated blockbuster How To Train Your Dragon.
Sharing with Entertainment Weekly, Greg stated: 'During the preparation phase, I revisited the first installment of How To Train Your Dragon. Renowned cinematographer Roger Deakins served as a visual consultant for that project. This contributed to making the cinematic quality of the scene more appealing.'
Greg further shared: 'Additionally, I revisited the original Jurassic Park film because I felt it captured the sense of immense scale of dinosaurs that no sequel project has achieved. Director Steven Spielberg used certain frames to emphasize their height, and I learned many techniques to make the pack of dinosaurs appear larger and more fascinating on screen. So, you can see the essence of Jurassic Park deeply infused into the atmosphere at Storm’s End.'
Regarding the showdown between Lucerys and Aemond, Greg shared that he drew his primary inspiration from How To Train Your Dragon to choreograph the positions and combat maneuvers for the two dragons. However, upon realizing the numerous similarities between the two films, the director had to make several changes to avoid unwarranted comparisons in the future.
House Of The Dragon meticulously laid the bricks on the path leading to the internal strife of the Targaryen dragon family throughout its inaugural season. The death of King Viserys Targaryen in the 8th episode propelled this conflict to its highest peak, continuously escalating the tension until the final episode and promising a more explosive and fierce second season.
However, according to Casey Bloys, HBO's Content Chief, it is planned that House Of The Dragon will only return to the small screen by 2024.
