HBO has released a new trailer for the upcoming Game of Thrones spin-off series House of the Dragon, which made its debut at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the prequel series will be set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Ahead of the show’s premiere, principal cast members and crew appeared at an hour-long panel to discuss elements of the upcoming fantasy series. Hollywood stars Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke were among the guests, alongside Emma D’Arcy, Paddy Considine, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey.
Co-creators and showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik also attended the panel, teasing key elements of the show’s plot: “It delves into the history of the Targaryen dynasty, and that’s something that we hear about in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ in the pages of the book and [Game of Thrones], but we never really get a sense of it… It’s just before the bloom starts to come off the rose,” Condal stated.
He also commented on how readers can expect to see plenty of dragons throughout the show. “There are 17 of them at the height of this [series]. So it was really important to differentiate them not only in the way they looked, but in the way they behaved and acted and the way they bonded with their riders.”
While teasing details for the show, Condal also promises the appearance of more dragons in later seasons. He added, “we’ve designed dragons you won’t even see yet in season one, because we’re having such a great time with the designers. I’m very excited to show [more], you’ve seen some teases in the trailer, but there is much yet to come and I think you guys will like it a lot.
The trailer itself presents us with the origins behind the legendary conflict known as “The Dance of the Dragons,” a conflict that altered the line of succession in Westeros. Despite his brother, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), being the heir apparent, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) makes the unorthodox decision to name a woman his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) as the Queen regnant. This major change in the status quo sparks a war between Rhaenyra and Daemon.
House of the Dragon is set to premiere on 21 August on HBO.
Words by Katie Heyes
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