Fantasy series are dead and only the new Game of Thrones spin-off can save them

A dark time will end in a few weeks: the one without Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon is the first spin-off of the style-defining and successful fantasy series. It tells one of the many backstories and plays 200 Years before Ned Stark was beheaded at King’s Landing. The blindingly blonde Targaryens and their edgy dragons from the House of the Dragon trailers are my last fantasy hope.

The realization tastes bitter, but a not-so-imaginative Game of Thrones spin-off is the only series I trust that’s been gaping in the fantasy world for three years Game of Thrones hole close. The attempts of the competition to create replacements were numerous but pathetic.

The mission “The Next Game of Thrones” has failed

Let’s rewind a little to the exciting years from 2017 to 2019. The Big Player GoT was coming to an end. HBO had proved to the world that television a suitable platform for fantasy material can offer, maybe even more appropriate than the cinema, because the big stories can spread better in the longer format.

At the same time we craved more fantasy for home. The streaming services consequently threw money around and gave the green light to complex projects. The strategy was obvious: Netflix, Amazon and Co. invested in the next Game of Thrones. At least they hoped so.

Netflix and Amazon fail miserably with their fantasy series

I’ve looked into all the major fantasy series that have come out since 2019. Even into Netflix’s already canceled full-on catastrophe, Cursed, which wasn’t quite as chosen, but pretty cursed. I tried, really. But none of these series captivated me longer than 4 episodes. The legitimate question that follows: Am I to blame for this as an overly picky fan spoiled by Game of Thrones? Or the series?

So firstly: Yes, I’m picky when it comes to fantasy series. If I’m going to lose myself in an artificially created fable world for 8 to 10 hours per season, then I expect a certain standard in terms of effects, world building and character art. That doesn’t mean that every series should reach the level of the genre queen. But an approximation would be nice.

Secondly: The question of whether I’m too picky is actually superfluous when you look at the flimsy goods that Netflix and Co. have presented to me in recent years the new quality fantasy series wanted to sell. My favorite example is The Witcher because that series is so beautifully frustrating. In 2019 she was the first to fill the GoT gap, the best fantasy times were not far behind. Unfortunately, the long-awaited large-scale production in its narrative simplicity and dullness reminded of 90s trash fantasy à la Xena – The Warrior Princess and Hercules. Which is basically not a bad thing! In the golden age of series, however, which is said to provide showrunners with so many different narrative options, one can be disappointed.

Third: I’m by no means alone in my search for really good fantasy series that don’t make binging feel like tough work. Shadow and Bone (Netflix), Carnival Row (Amazon) and The Witcher received acceptable ratings from viewers.

But even the bigger bright spots like Shadow and Bone stayed in the niche. Despite popular templates, expensive advertising campaigns and streaming services with a large audience the series did not become a mass phenomenon. In fact, I doubt that people who enjoyed Shadow and Bone Season 1 16 months ago would wake up wondering what’s going to happen next in Ravka. Like I said, just a guess.

They definitely exist, the short hypes. But overall, the post-Game of Thrones fantasy wave has dispersed into colorless and lifeless projects. The current fantasy landscape is diffuse, apathetic, devoid of fire (and ice cream). This is a problem of our time. There are simply too many series and streaming services. But to cite that alone as a reason why there is no legitimate GoT successor after all the effort is too easy for me. Because non-fantasy series like Squid Game manage to stand out. To create a vibrant moment.

Then why not a series from the popular genre of magic and alien worlds, which is in demand in today’s turbulent reality like never before?

Netflix and Amazon are overlooking the secret of GoT’s success

The answer is banal: none of them are good enough. Yes, Shadow and Bone delivers a big world with deep mythology, but it hasn’t come up with a plan to deal with the richness of the book’s templates. Yes, The Witcher is brutal, mature and hot, but the characters are flat and the story confused. Yes, the wheel of time is bleak, the characters even interesting, but the world looks as sterile as these weather images to Bavarian trumpet music in the morning on 3sat. None of these series was fully mature, when they landed on the streaming platforms. That’s the big difference to Game of Thrones.

The first Game of Thrones spin-off was canceled after the pilot. The original Game of Thrones pilot was so bad it ended up in the poison closet. I’m sure not one of the above fantasy series from Netflix and Amazon would have made it through HBO quality control. Henry Cavill would never have been expected to stagger through three confusing levels of time in The Witcher.

Why House of the Dragon is Fantasy’s Last Hope

After everything I’ve seen in fantasy over the past few years, I’ve seriously wondered if this might be a big misunderstanding. So with the series as a new, optimal place for fantasy material to develop. Whether Game of Thrones might have been a unicorn. A stroke of luck, in which many favorable factors fell into each other and created something (despite all weaknesses) wonderful, but not repeatable. I really thought so. I thought fantasy series were dead for good. Until the first trailer for House of the Dragon.

There’s more fantasy power in those 3 minutes than the last three years of Netflix amateurishness combined. They remind me how good a reimagined world can look.

There is a system behind it. Not only is House of the Dragon set in the same universe as Game of Thrones, it also follows the same style. Sparkle costumes, color grading and music unmistakable Westeros aroma. Everything looks finished and closed, as if made of one piece. The actors around Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen) behave in the clips as if they were embodying characters in a political series, where dragons also happen to be lurking in the background. In other words, House of the Dragon used Game of Thrones as a blueprint.

Netflix and Amazon need to learn from House of the Dragon

HotD director Miguel Sapochnik can look back on four years of GoT experience. Of course, the creator of the book, George RR Martin, is also there as producer and conceptor. The makers behind the series understand their craft and know how to turn fantasy into episodes and seasons in a profitable way. Which is by no means a guarantee that House of the Dragon will be good. But the probability is greater than with The Wheel of Time and also with the extremely elaborately produced Lord of the Rings series from Amazon.

If that’s how it comes across: There isn’t just one GoT way. But maybe going forward the competition could stick to a few things that have worked quite well on the best fantasy series of all time. Just a suggestion.

Fantasy productions just have to work a little more than series that play in real worlds. Streaming services need give their showrunners more time and budget if they want outstanding and not just average results. Fantasy doesn’t just spring from the ground. That’s the big takeaway of the past 3 years as the genre has been in the hands of Amazon and Netflix. Hopefully House of the Dragon now shows how to do it right.

House of the Dragon launches on August 21st at WOW in Germany.

Our podcast for the new Game of Thrones series

In the new episode of the Moviepilot podcast, we discuss this question. We explain when the new GOT offshoot is playing, what to think of the cast around Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith and ask ourselves what House of the Dragon absolutely needs to learn from Game of Thrones (and what not).

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How do you look back on the fantasy series of the last 3 years?