Based on the George R.R. Martin 2018 novel Fire & Blood, HBO’s House of Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series in development for television and HBO Max, looks to take viewers back to Westeros over two years since the original series wrapped—and hundreds of years before the events depicted.
With Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss off on their $250 million Netflix deal—working on another adaptation, this time sci-fi—House of Dragon will feature a new duo of showrunners: Ryan Condal (Colony, Hercules) and Miguel Sapochnik. The latter’s name fans will recognize from many Game of Thrones directing credits. Sapochnik was the director Benioff and Weiss often brought on board for the series’ major battle episodes, including “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Long Night.” His attachment to the series should mean good things.
It’s unclear if/how author George R.R. Martin is involved. His novel Fire & Blood faced poor reviews upon release with some critics finding the narrative dry and “homework”-like. The series adaptation will likely include plenty of well-paced conflict, however, with Sapochnik at the helm. Expect large set pieces and practical-effect-heavy battles. So: hopefully the opposite of dry and homework-like.
Some other good signs—some literal music to our ears—include Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones, Westworld) who will return to Westeros as composer.
Here’s everything else about House of Dragon we know so far.
Is there a trailer?
HBO recently released the first teaser trailer for the series. The trailer features intense nouns—“fire,” “blood”—spoken by Daemon Targaryen over dimly lit scenes of intense images—fire and blood.
The trailer also gives us a clue of the setting, correcting one of the show's earlier loglines that said the series would take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. We now know it's 200.
When is House of Dragon coming out?
HBO has recently given us the year—2022—and that is all we know. Filming has been underway since earlier this year. (The series is being shot in the U.K.)
The first season of Game of Thrones premiered in April 2011. The filming for that season took place throughout the previous summer and fall, so it's possible HBO may release season one of House of Dragon in the spring of 2022. Maybe they’re shooting for something sentimental—another April release, reminding us of that first spring when we were all just sweet summer children, unprepared for the brutal winter that would be seasons 4-8.
Who's in the cast?
Earlier this year, HBO announced many of the names joining the Westeros fray, including Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), and Paddy Considine (The Outsider). Considine will play King Viserys Targaryen. Smith will play Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.
Also announced in the cast is Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina, Devs) as Mysaria, a sort of ally to Prince Daemon. In terms of badass levels, we expect Mysaria to be the Arya Stark of House of Dragon.
What is House of Dragon about?
The series logline reads:
"Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones."
It's unclear how much of Martin's Fire & Blood will ground the series—or how faithful the team will stick to the over 700-page source material. Given the casting choices, we're likely to pick up the Targaryen family history somewhere in the middle with a crisis of succession.
Fear spoilers? Maybe don't pick up the novel just yet.