Forget 'Game of Thrones,' This 10/10 Historical Dragon Fantasy Adaptation Needs to Finally Happen

Image via HBO Published Aug 23, 2026, 7:57 AM EDT Kelcie Mattson is a Senior Features author at Collider. Based in the Midwest, she also contributes Lists, reviews, and television recaps. A lifelong fan of niche sci-fi, epic fantasy, Gothic horror, elaborate action, and witty detective fiction, becoming a pop culture devotee was inevitable once the Disney Renaissance, Turner Classic Movies, BBC period dramas, and her local library piqued her imagination. Rarely seen without a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Kelcie explores media history (especially older, foreign, and independent films) as much as possible. In her spare time, she enjoys video games, amateur photography, geeking out over music, and attending fan conventions with her Trekkie family. Sign in to your Collider account Out of all the magical beings contained within fantasy's vast iconography, one would be hard-pressed to find a more genre-defining staple than dragons. These literal behemoths' omnipresent popularity and thematic versatility (monsters to slay, pets to tame) have placed them at the forefront of some major Hollywood IPs. With that said, Game of Thrones arguably launched the fire-breathers into widespread cultural prominence — a symbol forever associated with prestige television. Subsequent fantasy shows have either failed to capitalize upon Westeros' dragons-and-politics-and-war hook, however, or not broken into the mainstream. The ideal solution to this dilemma, Noami Novik’s Hugo Award-nominated, New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and still stands as a remarkable achievement. The author's nine-book historical fantasy hinges on an extremely specific hook: what if the Napoleonic Wars included dragon armies? If that idea sounds phenomenally unique and, frankly, cool as all get out, you'd be correct. When it comes to exacting research, ingenious framing, precisely calculated ambition, an eye for striking spectacle, and a poignant spin on human-dragon relationships, Novik's thrilling debut series knows no equal. Temeraire has flown close to the screen two different times but never made the full page-to-TV leap. It's time for that to change. The 'Temeraire' Series Is an Imaginative Mix of History, Action, and Fantasy Unintentionally bonding with a newly hatched dragon forces William Laurence, a by-the-books captain in England's Royal Navy, into an unwanted career change. His king and country need every possible advantage against Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's naval and draconic forces, so the dutiful British gentleman joins the aviator corps and educates Temeraire, his precociously curious charge, in the ways of life and warfare. Everything about this series, from the rare concept and interconnected narrative scaffolding to its satisfying payoff, unifies into authorial magic. Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie. 🐺Stark 🦁Lannister 🐉Targaryen 🦌Baratheon 🌹Tyrell FIND YOUR HOUSE → 01 Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house. ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable. NEXT QUESTION → 02 What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours? AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything. AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could. AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something. NEXT QUESTION → 05 What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly. AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword. NEXT QUESTION → 06 You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory. AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours. AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character. AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign. REVEAL MY HOUSE → The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you. 🐺 House StarkWinter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view. You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having. Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult. The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold. You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are. 🦁 House LannisterYou understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology. You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage. A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order. You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway. The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you. 🐉 House TargaryenYou carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it. You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality. Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs. The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible. At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them. 🦌 House BaratheonYou are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them. Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it. You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers. The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after. The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too. 🌹 House TyrellYou understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes. Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts. You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter. The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it. You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Novik's passion for the material is as vibrantly clear as her efficient storytelling and intricate vision. For one, she excels at extraordinarily clever yet subtle worldbuilding. She speculates about the impact human-dragon coexistence might have on international relations, policies, economics, culture, and politics, and organically — given the context — adjusts recorded events. Novik further embellishes her engrossing alternate 19th century with period-accurate details, sparkling dialogue, action-heavy battles across sky and sea, and breathtaking tactical maneuvers. Her modernity, meanwhile, challenges England's colonialism, disrupts class privilege and gender inequality, and makes an intense effort to avoid exoticism. As for Temeraire's accompanying mythology, the series fulfills the archetype of dragons who speak English, feel profoundly, and often surpass humans where intelligence is concerned. Their abundant multidimensionality is where Novik breaks new ground; she enriches her creations with detailed behaviors, customs, needs, a range of personalities, and the species' eventual push for equality and freedom. As Laurence and Temeraire's adventures take them globe-trotting, the pair witness China treating their fellow sentient beings with reverential respect, England barely tolerating them as a necessary weapon, and other countries indulging their prejudiced cruelty. In that comparative light, Laurence and Temeraire's affectionate and affecting bond will melt even the stoniest heart. The captain's reserved public persona dissolves into private, tender warmth with his closest confidant, and there's almost no length to which Temeraire won't go to protect his companion. Their friendship rejects all imposed boundaries — because it is, above all else, an unbreakable devotion based in love, understanding, and acceptance. The duo's teacher-protege dynamic shifts in record time, with the maturing Temeraire's learned practicality and his wise perspective as a questioning outsider grounding Laurence — a noble but flawed man of his time, surrounded by corruption and struggling against the temptation to misuse his power – like a living moral compass. There's Never Been a Better Time to Bring 'Temeraire' to Television Almost as soon as book one, His Majesty's Dragon, hit shelves in 2006, director Peter Jackson optioned the rights. On the heels of The Lord of the Rings, having Jackson in the driver's seat seemed like a match made in fiery heaven. Yet the rights reverted to Novik before Jackson could launch a blockbuster movie. Meanwhile, Fox hasn't issued any updates about its animated series since the initial announcement in 2022. Projects should take as much pre-production time as they need, but this silence feels too similar to other book-to-screen adaptations that fell through despite their audience-driving potential. Make no mistake — Temeraire has widespread appeal in spades. Fantasy audiences would leap at a long-running streaming adaptation, while the period drama aspect might pull an Outlander and pique other demographics' curiosity. Fox pursuing an adult animated route is likely the smartest approach. Acclaimed modern triumphs like The Legend of Vox Machina, The Dragon Prince, and Arcane prove that the format infuses magic, dragons, multiple locations, and epic battles with both the emotional and suspension-of-disbelief authenticity it needs. On the other hand, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon make an ample case for live action. The latter's visual effects team, in particular, has spent three seasons superbly depicting each dragon's distinct personality quirks and selling the bond between these loyal critters and their human riders. Temeraire's need for near-constant VFX, to say nothing of the combat and global locations, would require Game of Thrones' record-breaking budget. Either way, after two decades, Temeraire deserves to thunder onto the small screen. With House of the Dragon's fourth and final season on the way, this might be the perfect time to crown another legendary book series as television's most imaginative, spectacular, and epically heartfelt dragon show.