Prime Video’s Upcoming Fourth Wing Adaptation Will Make House Of The Dragon Feel Small

Before too long, it will no longer be difficult to imagine a dragon TV show bigger than House of the Dragon. The original Game of Thrones series effectively got viewers hooked on the idea of massive, on-screen, hyper-realistic dragons, but there weren’t nearly enough of them. Daenerys Targaryen only hatched three, and by the end of season 8, there was just one left. That’s where House of the Dragon comes in. The spinoff took us back in Westeros’ history to a period when the Targaryens still ruled the land from the backs of dragons.

House of the Dragon has done precisely what it promised. The Game of Thrones spinoff has introduced several of the 17 Targaryen dragons that existed in Westeros at the start of the Dance of the Dragons, and more are sure to arrive on screen in the coming seasons. We’ve also had several epic and explosive dragon battles, each brought to screen with the sort of quality HBO Max is known for. There’s really no denying that House of the Dragon is a big deal. Still, something is on the way that will be even bigger.

Prime Video’s upcoming dragon series, Fourth Wing, will be based on the book series by Rebecca Yarros, which follows protagonist Violet Sorrengail as she learns to become a dragon rider. Like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, Yarros Empyrean Series (of which Fourth Wing is the first book) is a massive hit. Unlike Martin’s stories, however, Fourth Wing takes a far more traditional approach to the dragon rider genre. This ultimately means the upcoming TV show has to be absolutely massive.

Prime Video’s Fourth Wing Will Multiply The Best Qualities Of House Of The Dragon

Game of Thrones, and even House of the Dragon, is pretty atypical in the dragon-rider subgenre. The story is set on a massive scale, but this franchise is considered a low-magic fantasy overall. Game of Thrones could get away with keeping dragons off-screen for the majority of the show, and a significant amount of House of the Dragon has done the same. This is because the dragons are more of an accessory to the overarching plot than a central part of it.

Fourth Wing falls far more in line with the traditional expectations of the genre. This is a story simply packed full of diverse and intelligent dragons. They are characters in their own right who share intimate bonds with their riders (with whom they can communicate telepathically) and develop alongside them. This naturally means Prime Video will have to commit much more screen time to the creatures than House of the Dragon ever has.

Dragons aren’t the only way that Fourth Wing will turn up the volume on House of the Dragon. While the latter series leans heavily into political maneuvers and manipulations, just as Game of Thrones did, Fourth Wing is more about high-stakes action. It’s consistently fast-paced and overtly intense, with less reliance on slow-burning suspense. Said and done, this upcoming dragon series should feel unlike anything we’ve seen on screen yet.

Could Prime Video Finally Have A High Fantasy To Rival Game Of Thrones?

Credit: HBO via MovieStillsDB

Ever since Game of Thrones took the world by storm, just about every major company in the business has made an attempt at duplicating the success. Prime Video is no exception. The Amazon platform has put out a couple of large-scale fantasy TV shows, the most notable being The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. This high fantasy series multiplied the Game of Thrones budget by a grotesque amount. Yet, it hasn’t performed anywhere near as well.

Fourth Wing is a chance for redemption. So long as Amazon commits itself to high quality here and takes the project seriously, resisting the urge to water it down or make silly adjustments to canon, this dragon-rider show can be something really exceptional. The project also notably has Michael B. Jordan on board as an executive producer through his company, Outlier Society, and Jordan has expressed a determination to get this project done right. Fourth Wing has a lot going for it, so if the scale is everything we want it to be, then there’s no doubt this will be every bit the experience House of the Dragon has been—if not more.