What you need to know about House of the Dragon if you haven’t watched Game of Thrones
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House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel and is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The book and the upcoming series follow the story of House Targaryen and the civil war that breaks out over the iron throne, known as the ‘dance of the dragons’.
“If you’d like to know a bit more of what the show will be about… well, I can’t actually spill those beans,” Martin previously teased on his Livejournal Not a Blog. “But you might want to pick up a copy of two anthologies I did with Gardner Dozois, Dangerous Women and Rogues, and then move on to Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, Fire & Blood.”
While House of the Dragon occupies the same rich Westeros universe as Game of Thrones, the storyline is unrelated, as it’s in a much earlier timeline than Thrones. In theory, you could watch HoD without having watched the original series.
GoT largely follows three intertwining plots with multiple characters to keep tabs on. The main storylines include a battle for the iron throne by the lords of Westeros, an exiled Daenerys Targaryen’s pursuit of power and the rise of the mythical white walkers. HoD will feature similar power struggle themes but will focus on a huge civil war and the ultimate fall of the Targaryen dynasty.
Thrones fans will inevitably get more out of House of the Dragon, as family houses, legends and locations will be familiar.
That said, if you need some context, here’s what you need to know about House of the Dragon if you haven’t watched Game of Thrones.
The Targaryens were a powerful house
House of the Dragon tells the story of House Targaryen at the height of their power and influence. They were a noble family who once ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros with their mighty dragons.
The plot will follow the fall of this once great house due to a civil war caused by King Viserys Targaryen choosing his firstborn, Rhaenyra, as heir to the Iron Throne rather than a male heir. This decision sets in motion a chain of events that sparks a dispute over who will inherit the throne.
It’s important to know that as well as blonde hair and violet eyes, the house also carries a trait of insanity in its bloodline, with King Aerys II Targaryen, referred to as “the Mad King” in Game of Thrones.
Thrones character, Cersei Lannister, said of the fallen dynasty: “Half the Targaryen’s went mad, didn’t they? What’s the saying? Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin.”
There will be lots of dragons
We can expect to see many ferocious dragons in the prequel series, including Daemon Targaryen’s dragon Caraxes and Rhaenyra Targaryen’s dragon Syrax.
The relationship between House Targaryen and their dragons is a significant part of House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. With these fire-breathing beasts, the Targaryen’s had ultimate power over air, sea and land in Westeros and faced little threat to their enormous power. Other than from each other of course.
We begin Thrones with a distinct lack of dragons and learn that they had become extinct after one too many Targaryen battles. However, Daenerys Targaryen manages to hatch some petrified dragon eggs in a funeral pyre and baby dragons are born in season one.
There will probably be a big cast
George R.R. Martin loves a gigantic cast ensemble, and it looks like House of the Dragon will go the way of Thrones, with many players to keep a sharp eye on.
In the Game of Thrones TV series, there are 553 listed cast members, though only a few characters survived all eight seasons. So far, we have 29 confirmed House of the Dragon characters, but this is likely to grow in future seasons.
The prequel stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, and Sonoya Mizuno as Prince Daemon’s ally Mysaria.
Expect multiple storylines
Thrones had interwoven plots that evolved as the seasons progressed and you had to really pay attention to follow the complex narrative.
House of the Dragon will continue the trend and take it a step further by featuring a multi-generational story with time leaps.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Game of Thrones prequel will begin when its two leads, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, are teenagers. However, around its debut season’s halfway point, House of the Dragon will then jump ahead 10 years to when Rhaenyra and Alicent are young adults.
House of the Dragon’s co-showrunner Ryan Condal has spoken about why they use time jumps in the first season.
“This is how you tell this story correctly,” Condal said. “We’re telling a story of a generational war. We set everything up so by the time that first sword stroke falls, you understand all the players.”
Author George RR Martin has also recently spoken about how House of the Dragon is a character-driven drama, rather than action series, writing on his Livejournal: “Those of you who like complex, conflicted, grey 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 and adventure.”
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