Stills from "Dragon Family".
Viewers who have watched " Game of Thrones " must have thought about a question - how did the Targaryen family decline?
In fact, the answer to this question was hidden in the morning in George Martin "Blood and Fire".
Not long ago, "The Dragon Family", adapted from this work, appeared in front of book fans and movie fans of " Song of Ice and Fire ", and its Douban score directly reached 8.7 points.
has the collapse of "Game of Thrones", and audiences will inevitably have doubts about the new TV series "Song of Ice and Fire" - "The Family of Dragons".
Fortunately, according to the author George Martin, he has been deeply involved in the production of the first season of "The Dragon Family" and has worked well with the screenwriter.
original fan can be calm. Even if this drama fails, it is still Martin .
The story of "The Dragon Family" took place before "Game of Thrones". Westeros , under the rule of the fifth king of Targaryen, spent a period of relatively peaceful and prosperous life.
is just behind the rise of singing and dancing. The middle-aged king has not yet gained male offspring. The king's younger brother is young and strong, while the king's daughter is very popular.
Is it the elder brother or the eldest son inherited, or should the kingdom welcome a queen?
's explanation and competition for inheritance rights will bring bloody storms to Westeros and a heavy blow to the Targaryen family.
The beginning of the flaws is not overshadowed by the merits
The trailer for "Dragon Family" was just released, the casting in the play was criticized.
The story takes place in the prime of Targaryen dynasty , and George Martin also intentionally or unintentionally describes the appearance of members of the Targaryen family.
Therefore, there are quite a few viewers who think that the live-action version of "Dragon Family" is not as good as "Game of Thrones" in casting.
Fortunately, the first episode of "The Dragon Family" is quite outstanding. The two scenes of "The Dragon's Dance" are used to condense the two major themes of inheritance rights and relatives' perishment during the "Blood Dragon Dance". cross-montage has a very visual impact. With Queen Emma's "Women's delivery room is also a battlefield" and "Uncrown Queen" Reness' mockery of the chivalrous spirit, the audience is dragged into a bloody storm.
Some people say that Paddy Consdain plays Viserys I without any kingly spirit, but this is exactly the success of the character.
Veserys I's predecessor, Jehris I, had a very outstanding rule. During the period of Viserys I, the country had neither war nor natural disasters. What he was good at was holding big parties and "pleasing everyone".
Veserys I loves her daughter and wife, and loves to look at her brother who is a bad person. At the same time, she feels that she should have a male heir in her destiny, "both wanted, both, and even want." This character is like a typical worry-free "giant baby", revealing her essence of being strong outside and doing it in the face of crisis.
The crew's grasp of this role was very accurate in the first episode.
Matt Smith plays Damon Targaryen, which is a big challenge. "The Prince of Swingers" (also translated as "The Prince of Rangers") is an ambitious prince and one of the protagonists in the " Blood Dragon Dance " period. The first episode of
shows his unruly and warlike well, but the "Prince of Swinging" at this time should be relatively young and energetic. Matt Smith is more suitable to stay away from , King's Landing City, in the future, collecting troops to open up his own independent kingdom in the trek, and becoming a Damon, a prime military strategist.
The role of Collis Valerian was criticized the most for using actors of color.
"Sea Snake" Collis is a brave and fearless navigator and a wealthy man in Westeros.
has conflicts with the king and some nobles because he supports his wife Reneth's inheritance rights. He does not shy away from this.
still has a strong aura at the imperial meeting. In fact, the Valerian family has Valeria bloodline, and Valeria is an ancient Roman world empire, and its citizens do not need to make a fuss. Princess Renilla, one of the protagonists of
, has a slight shortcoming, but it is mainly a matter of scenes.
is the "Light of the Kingdom" (the original text is "delight", a joyful meaning), and the description of this is lacking in the first episode - the knights on the competition field should be asked to fight for her first, and then the powerful Christon and Damon showdown.
But in general, the opening flaws of "Dragon Family" are not concealed.
Stills of "Game of Thrones".
Modern Perspective in "Dragon Family"
As mentioned earlier, the root of "Blood Dragon Dance" lies in the internal struggles within the Targaryen royal family around inheritance rights. The issue of Reness' inheritance rights is actually the hidden line of "Blood Dragon Dance".
Because she is a woman, she was rejected twice in a row at the Crown Prince's Congress.
But she is also an outstanding talent and a proud dragon knight that is obvious to all, so she is called the "uncrowned queen" by many people.
Reneth's grandmother has always had objections to this. Her famous saying "What is indispensable to rulers is a smart mind and a sincere heart, and it is definitely not a penis between the legs." It is the strongest voice of Westeros at that time.
It must be pointed out that according to George Martin's setting, Valylia had female consuls, and the single-gender inheritance system would not be the rule of the Targaryen family, but should be the custom of Westeros, which is mainly feudal.
Targaryen's entry into the countryside should be based on the consideration of the conqueror family solving governance problems and cultural conflicts.
More enthusiasts put forward the view that the existence of dragons makes the status of the single-gender inheritance system unstable: the essence of dragons is a weapon of destruction, and the dragon knights have no gender restrictions, which means that women can also gain overwhelming power on the battlefield, making Renella's challenge to the feudal inheritance system of Westeros has subjective and objective possibilities.
Adding feminist elements or even modern perspectives to fantasy novels is indeed George Martin's specialty, but he himself may not be too enthusiastic about discussing the topics and giving answers.
" William Faulkner says that human inner conflict is the real and only object worth writing about. I have always used that sentence as my guiding principle, and everything else is just external decoration."
He especially appreciates " Lord of the Rings " - every fantasy novel writer is inevitably compared with Tolkien - he praised: "Tolkien's greatest creations are those characters, those who struggle between the temptation of the Lord of the Rings and how to deal with the Rings, their hearts are full of struggle."
's attention to people, especially grey characters, is the tone of the world of "Song of Ice and Fire", Iron Throne , and the dragon are actually George Martin's " Lord of the Rings ".
At the end of "The Dragon Family", the dragon knight and the dragon withered, and Targaryen became less and less like a god; at the end of "Game of Thrones", the Iron Throne was even more destroyed - to some extent, this was a response to Tolkien's tradition of "creating artifacts - snatching artifacts - losing artifacts".
Some people believe that Tolkien's description of the Lord of the Ring corrupting holders is a wonderful display of Lord Acton's "power is prone to corruption, and absolute power leads to absolute corruption."
Targaryen family also reflects this to some extent.
As the driver of magic dragon , the survivor of advanced civilization, the ruler who is "more like a god than humans" and the carrier of a certain genetic mental illness gene, they will always break through the shackles and do things that ordinary people think are unreasonable.
Intermarriage of relatives is a major tendency of the Targaryen family, but once the power struggle breaks out, they become kinkillers.
"Whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods throw their coins into the air, choosing to be crazy or great."
They look down on the sentient beings in Westeros, beautiful and sick, incest and fraternal siblings. This ultimate contradiction is also a great source of charm for the characters of "The Dragon Family".
The same-stage competition of fantasy novels
George Martin also believes that Tolkien's works are not perfect enough - mainly reflected in the lack of depiction of the political and social aspects of the fantasy world.
"I want to know his (Aragorn) tax policy, what should he do if the famine comes, and how to deal with the remaining orcs... Will Aragon carry out a systematic massacre on orcs? And with the newborn little orcs? Or can orcs be educated and become good citizens?"
Of course, this is purely because Tolkien and George Martin's writing starting points are essentially different.
Tolkien is trying to create a certain national myth, while George Martin writes history with the fantasy world as the background/Realist novel . They have their own emphasis and preferences for shaping the fantasy world. This is an aesthetic difference, and there is no need to distinguish between the superiority and inferiority.
George Martin's praise of "Lord of the Rings" has a more interesting side: Tolkien lets Gandalf fall into Moria cause him a great shock, making him realize that killing the main character in time can give readers a different reading experience.
This year, "The Dragon Family" will compete on the same stage with "Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power". George Martin said, "There is no need to distinguish between the top and bottom", while laughing and saying that the number of Emmys and trophys won is better than the other party.
plus "Wheel of Time" from Amazon earlier, it has recently ushered in a wave of fantasy novel adapters.
What's more, HBO's "Dragon Family" is just the first round of this craze. A series of IP series "Song of Ice and Fire" has been in development. Among them, the IP series with Jon Snow as the main character is initiated by actor Kit Harrington himself.
In addition to "Song of Ice and Fire", George Martin also has mature fantasy novels such as "Dream of the Hot Night", "King of the Sand", and "Tufu's Sailing".
Everyone knows that Hollywood loves to engage in big IPs and is deeply trapped in IP scarcity. Maybe one day the Martin universe will come true?
George Martin once imagined that he would gain a status like Stan Lee one day. When the former had already lost control of Marvel , he would never allow himself to be bound by the big factory. It is really gratifying and worrying.
As for what you said about the finale of the original work of "Song of Ice and Fire"?
I wish you a long life, my friend!
