Dracarys! The Game of Thrones spinoff series House of the Dragon is finally in the works at HBO, giving Westeros obsessives something to look forward to.
After canceling one GoT prequel series in late 2019, the network decided to move forward with House of the Dragon, based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood. Following some pandemic-related delays throughout 2020, the show began production in April 2021.
“George R.R. Martin’s world is so big, and what’s interesting about it, not only is it big, but he’s got a lot of road maps in terms of history,” Casey Bloys, chief content officer for HBO and HBO Max, said at a Television Critics’ Association event in February. “So one of the great things about House of the Dragon is that’s an established history that leads you to Game of Thrones the show, and there [are] a lot of little branches.”
Because this is a prequel, though, none of Thrones‘ familiar faces will be present — not even the ones who were still living in the series finale, including Arya (Maisie Williams), Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
House of the Dragon is set hundreds of years before the events of GoT and focuses on the ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). British actress Emma D’Arcy will take on the role of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, while Crown alum Matt Smith will play her uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen.
Rhaenyra is raised as heir to the throne of Westeros, but because nobody in this universe ever respects the line of succession, her half-brother, Aegon II, challenges her claim. This sets off a civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which is what the new show will be about.
Other actors rounding out the cast include Eve Best, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Fabien Frankel, Rhys Ifans, Sonoya Mizuno and Steve Toussaint. They seem to be sworn to secrecy regarding the show’s plot, but Cooke, who plays Alicent Hightower, is happy to discuss the original series, which she hadn’t watched at all before landing her role.
“When I read the script, I hadn’t seen any Game of Thrones,” the Sound of Metal star told Variety in January 2021. “But then I binged it and now I’m obsessed.”
In true Thrones fashion, once she got the role, she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it for two months. “People would ask, ‘What’s up for you next?’ and I’d have to be like, ‘Nothing,'” she recalled.
The most important question, of course, is whether there will be dragons. No one involved in the show has confirmed it, but the answer is still probably yes. Within the world of Thrones, Daenerys was famously the first person to ride a dragon in many years, but her ancestors did it all the time. So, these people? Definitely riding dragons.
Keep scrolling to read more about House of the Dragon:
Game of Thrones eventually outpaced Martin's writing, but House of the Dragon does have a book to reference — the 2018 novel Fire & Blood, which focuses on the history of House Targaryen. Because it's a George R.R. Martin book it is of course over 700 pages long, but since the show is due out in 2022 at the earliest, devoted fans have plenty of time to catch up. (The author also claims that he's working on a second volume.)
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Miguel Sapochnik, who directed several GoT episodes — including fan favorites "Hardhome" and "The Battle of the Bastards" — will serve as showrunner alongside Ryan Condal, cocreator of the USA sci-fi series Colony. During the original show's run, Sapochnik was known for helming epic battle scenes using as many non-CGI extras as possible.
“We had a group of extras who were insanely loyal to the show and they were ready and they’d do bloody anything,” he told Indiewire in 2019. “The problem I have with most action scenes today is they are too designed. I can’t shoot this if I can’t create a sustainable environment for my actors to work in. I wanted to create a place, a playground the actors could get so immersed in it that they were in the real thing.”
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As Targaryens, D'Arcy and Smith sport the same platinum wigs that Clarke wore throughout her time as Daenerys.
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Cooke and Ifans play Alicent Hightower and Otto Hightower, respectively. House Hightower is not mentioned a ton in the original show, but their seat is in Oldtown — the same city where Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) went to study to become a Maester.
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Toussaint plays Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake. He is a greatly respected seafarer, which has earned him the Velaryon title Lord of the Tides.
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While House of the Dragon moves forward, there are still a handful of other GoT spinoffs in the works. Bloys, however, confirmed in February 2021 that none of these are a lock — yet. “I’ve never wanted to do this with a mandate that you must have three series by this time," he said at a TCA event. “It’s really coming from, would that be interesting, is that good, do we have a writer we believe in. That’s kind of the approach we are taking. I think you have to because if you don’t do that, it would lead to putting shows on for the sake of it.”
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In July 2021, production on the prequel was shut down for two days after someone in "Zone A" — which includes leading cast and crew — tested positive for COVID-19, Deadline reported.
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After suffering numerous pandemic-related setbacks over the course of filming in 2020 and 2021, HBO announced the prequel would premiere in 2022.
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The first official teaser for the Targaryen-driven House of the Dragon takes place 200 years before the original Game of Thrones series and introduces fans to Khaleesi’s very blonde ancestors, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Smith) and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (D’Arcy). “Gods. Kings. Fire. Blood,” the promo, released in October 2021, read.
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