Five Key Takeaways From the ‘House of the Dragon’ Comic-Con Panel: From Season 2 Plans to George R.R. Martin’s Meeting With the Cast

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterGeorge R.R. Martin and the cast of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” came out for the “Game of Thrones” prequel’s first-ever San Diego Comic-Con panel Saturday, revealing a few significant tidbits about the show ahead of its Aug.

21 premiere. Though they were largely tightlipped about the plot, Martin, Ryan Condal, who is co-showrunning the series with Miguel Sapochnik, and the stars dropped several interesting facts about the Targaryen-centric show — including the work that’s already being done on Season 2.Here are five key takeaways from the series’ Hall H presentation.1. “House of the Dragon” Will Address Westeros’ History of Misogyny“What is it about Westeros that they’re just so anti-a-queen?” a moderator asked the panel. “My books are fantasies, obviously, but I do follow history a lot,” Martin said. “I get inspiration from history and I take elements from history and turn it up to 11 — obligatory ‘Spinal Tap’ reference — or to 111. ‘Game of Thrones,’ as many people observed, was based loosely during the English’s War of the Roses.

This show was based on an earlier period in medieval history called The Anarchy. I pilfered freely from real history — Henry I, the king of England, when his only legitimate son drowned while trying to cross the English Channel, was left with only one legitimate child, which was his daughter Matilda.

And he named her his heir and he made the lords of the kingdom swear felty to her. And then some years later he died and most of the lords of the kingdom forgot about that oath and said, ‘Oh, it doesn’t apply,’ because here comes her cousin Stephen who crosses the channel quickly and steals the treasury and gets himself crowned king and they entered a period called.