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House of the Dragon is a spin-off prequel series to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' Game of Thrones. GOT is an eight-season-long groundbreaking fantasy drama that took the world by storm in 2011. The first season of House of the Dragons premiered on HBO Max on August 21, 2022, and consists of ten episodes.
House of the Dragon is based on George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel Fire & Blood, which is set in the world of Martin's fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and chronicles the history of the Targaryen family. The series will also draw material from two novellas Fire & Blood: The Princess and the Queen and The Rogue Prince. The story is set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen.
Created by screenwriter Ryan J. Condal and director Miguel Sapochnik, with Martin himself serving as an executive producer, the series will focus on the events leading up to Dance of the Dragons, a bloody and brutal Targaryen war of succession that pitted various Targaryen family members and their companion dragons against each other and ultimately led to the downfall of House Targaryen.
House of the Dragon stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, and Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower. Speaking at Comic-Con 2022, showrunner Ryan Condal stated:
“This series begins at the pinnacle, at the height of the dynasty, with all their wealth and influence; and the most dragons they'll ever have! It's just before the bloom starts to come off the rose.”
Before diving into the world of dragons, power-hungry battles, and political diplomacy again, check out these interesting facts about House of the Dragon.
5 facts about House of the Dragon that you might not know
1) The series is based on a true story
Like Game of Thrones, loosely based on the events of the War of the Roses, House of the Dragon is also based on actual events. It is based on The Anarchy, an English Civil War in the 12th century.
Speaking to his fans at Comic-Con 2022, George R.R. Martin stated:
“Henry I, the King of England, his only legitimate son drowned while trying to cross the English channel. That left him with only one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda. He named her his heir and made all the Lords of the Kingdom swear an oath to her. And when he died, most of the lords of the kingdom forgot about that oath or said, ‘No, it doesn’t apply’.
He continued:
Her cousin, Stephen, then crosses the channel and takes control. It begins this period, The Anarchy, where Matilda and Stephen fought. That was the inspiration.”
2) The creator of the series was hand-picked by George R. R. Martin himself
George R. R. Martin hand-picked Ryan Condal, a big fan of the writer, to create House of the Dragon. He revealed in his blog post that he has watched nine episodes from the first season of the series and is highly impressed with how the series has turned out. Martin wrote:
“Ryan and Miguel and their cast and crew are doing great work. Those of you who like complex, conflicted, gray characters (as I do) will like this series, I think. There will be plenty of dragons and battles, to be sure, but the spine of the story is the human conflicts, the love and the hate, character drama rather than action/adventure.”
Martin also stated that the series had improved the character of King Viserys:
“I am vastly impressed by the show's version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that my book Viserys never quite achieved. Kudos to Paddy, Ryan and his writers, and Miguel and the other directors.”
3) Two major experts from Game of Thrones have worked on the series
Miguel Sapochnik, the iconic filmmaker of Game of Thrones, is back to work as the director of House of the Dragon. The director has won multiple accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award for directing the famous Battle of the Bastards episode of Game of Thrones. He has also directed other critically-acclaimed episodes from the original series, including Hardhome, The Winds of Winter, and The Long Night.
Ramin Djawadi, the legendary music composer of Game of Thrones, is also working on House of the Dragon in the same role. He won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in 2018 and 2019 for the episodes The Dragon and the Wolf and The Long Night from Game of Thrones.
4) The series will feature 17 dragons
While Game of Thrones featured only three dragons, House of the Dragon will feature 17 dragons as it is set during the height of the Targaryen rule. The series has also spared no expense in differentiating the dragons based on their looks and personalities. These dragons have a complete infrastructure, including a dragon pit, saddles, and dragon keepers, a monk-like order that takes care of them.
At Comic-Con 2022, Ryan Condal stated:
“We built out from Syrax and Caraxes and Vhagar the biggest dragon alive right now. George, who writes very detailed books, gave us the gift of colour, size and age. We took those things and tried to extrapolate them and add personality. So Caraxes is very cantankerous and agitated and he’s always moving and flexing, much like his rider.”
5) The series delves into the intricacies of childbirth during medieval times
During medieval times, giving birth was a complicated affair, much like battles. House of the Dragon addresses this dangerous issue of childbirth, which often leads to the death of the mothers.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Miguel Sapochnik stated:
“We have a number of births in the show and basically decided to give them different themes and explore them from different perspectives the same way I did for a bunch of battles on Thrones.”
After House of the Dragon, several other shows based on Martin's series of fantasy novels and their companion pieces are being developed. These include a series based on the adventures of Jon Snow (played by Kit Harington) after the end of Game of Thrones, a prequel titled The Sea Snake about the seafarer Corlys Velaryon, and another series titled Ten Thousand Ships about the warrior-queen Nymeria.
There are also plans to adapt Tales of Dunk and Egg, a prequel that follows the adventures of the knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Prince Aegon Targaryen. Other plans include a prequel about Flea Bottom, the poorest slum in King's Landing, and an animated series called The Golden Empire that will be set in the wealthy eastern empire of Yi Ti.
