House of the Dragon Looks All Fire and Blood

House of the Dragon Looks All Fire and Blood
Contributor: Sarah Basford Canales and Lifehacker Australia
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Here we are again, pals. Back in the Game of Thrones bubble, eagerly waiting for updates on our favourite (and most hated) power-obsessed families. Only this time, the Targaryens sit at the centre of the story. House of the Dragon is coming, so here is everything you need to know in the lead up to its arrival.

What’s House of the Dragon all about?

house of the dragon
Image: HBO/Binge

A couple of years back, George R.R. Martin confirmed on his blog that a full ten-part series had been ordered for House of the Dragon.

The series is centred around the House of Targaryen and will be set a “couple of centuries” before the events of A Song Of Fire & Ice, which the Game of Thrones series was based on.

House of the Dragon is being developed by Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones, True Detective) and Ryan Condal (Rampage). Martin wrote it’s been in the works for “several years” and will have something to do with Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, Fire & Blood.

Foxtel, which holds the streaming rights to Game Of Thrones in Australia, also provided some information about the new series via a blog post in 2019:

“This new saga will explore the ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen, the famous Mother of Dragons played by Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones. It’s time to go back to when those terrifying beasts were far more commonplace. And if there’s one thing we learnt from Game of Thrones, it’s that the more dragons, the better!

“One thing we do know about the new series is that it will at some point include the ‘Dance of the Dragons’, which is an all-out war between two branches of the Targaryen family each fighting for their chosen ruler.”

Foxtel also promised “torrid love affairs, betrayals and murders aplenty”, which should please the average GoT fan.

Who’s included in the cast lineup?

house of the dragon
Image: HBO/Binge

As you’ll recall from the original Game of Thrones series, Martin’s projects tend to be pretty character-heavy.The House of the Dragon is no different.

The cast lineup for the show includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (young), Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower (young), Paddy Considine as Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, our very own Ryan Corr as Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon aka “The Sea Snake”, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Jefferson Hall as twins Lord Jason Lannister and Tyland Lannister, David Horovitch as Grand Maester Mellos, Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling, Matthew Needham as Larys Strong, Bill Paterson plays Lord Lyman Beesbury and Gavin Spokes as Lord Lyonel Strong.

You can read more about the cast and characters here.

You can also gaze upon some new character posters below.

House of the Dragon trailer

Heck yeah there’s a trailer. Here’s our first extended look at House of the Dragon, giving us a glimpse into what the show will be about. The show will feature multiple time jumps and outlines the fall of House Targaryen.

HBO Max also dropped this teaser trailer for the series and to put it plainly, it will send chills down your spine. Watch the clip below:

A second full trailer was released in 2022 May and, man, it’s really something.

In the trailer, we see the noble houses of Westeros bow to the King on the Iron Throne, Viserys. But in a twist, we learn Viserys has named his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir, which seems to cause a rift between siblings – particularly seeing as a woman hasn’t sat on the Iron Throne before.

Surprise! There are also dragons.

When is House of the Dragon releasing in Australia?

house of the dragon
Image: HBO/Binge

Gather the old Game of Thrones watch party because House of the Dragon has a release date.

The show has a mid-2022 premiere dare of August 22. Episodes will air from 11am on Mondays.

Binge confirmed it would be the home for Game of Thrones once again with House of the Dragon episodes dropping the same day as the U.S..

You’ll be able to catch House of the Dragon episodes on both Binge and Foxtel in Australia.

What happened to the prequel with Naomi Watts?

Despite having Naomi Watts signed up for it, the untitled GoT prequel, called The Long Night by Martin, was scrapped by HBO. It was due to focus on the conflict between the Starks and the White Walkers 1000 years before the events of the original series.

“I do not know why HBO decided not to go to series on this one, but I do not think it had to do with House of the Dragon. This was never an either/or situation,” Martin wrote on his blog.

“If television has room enough for multiple CSIs and Chicago shows… well, Westeros and Essos are a lot bigger, with thousands of years of history and enough tales and legends and characters for a dozen shows.”

So, if you’ve had a Game of Thrones shaped hole in your life since the series wrapped, you’ll be glad to know the tales of Westeros are not yet done… for now, anyway.

How can I watch the original Game of Thrones series?

If you’d like to take it back to the beginning and watch Game of Thrones again (or for the first time) you can do that on Binge. All seasons are available to stream here if you’ve got that kind of a marathon in you.

This article has been updated since its original publish date with additional details on House of the Dragon.

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