Game of Thrones may be over, but it is living on in spinoffs, and in 2022, we will be brought back into Westeros with House of the Dragon.
A teaser trailer has dropped, and with it come some questions about what this series is about, who the players are, and who is involved behind the scenes. Considering how the first series ended, people are interested, but cautious about getting involved with this franchise again.
Timeline-wise, as shown in the trailer, the series begins 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It will deal with the lead up to the fall of House Targaryen, mainly through the civil war within the house called the “Dance of Dragons.” We got ourselves a prequel, which means one thing is assured: We know how this story ends, and the source material on it is actually complete. Plus, it is pulling material from the completed Fire & Blood.
During the reign of Viserys I (Paddy Considine), he does not have any sons with his first wife and decides that his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), will become the first queen of Westeros. However, Hand of the King Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) has plans to increase his own power by marrying his daughter, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), to the king. This creates a power struggle between those who support Rhaenyra, which includes Matt Smith’s Prince Daemon Targaryen, and those who support the Hightowers.
I won’t spoil anything for those who want to go in for surprise, but the outcome of this war is what leads to the loss of dragons and, therefore, the symbol of Targaryen power—until 200 years later, when Daenerys Targaryen brings them back.
While the main storyline feels reminiscent of the British civil war known as the War of the Roses, this Dance of the Dragons plot line is pulled from another period in British civil war known as the Anarchy. So, if you know your British history, you’ll be able to see where things go.
“Dance of the Dragons” is probably my favorite period in history within the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, so despite the wigs looking a tad crusty, I am excited to see it onscreen. Plus, they have gone through the effort of casting diversely, and we get a glimpse of Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, which sets up House Velaryon to be the Black alt line of Targaryens, since they are Targaryen through marriage.
The first season of the series will consist of ten episodes. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are not involved in this series. George R. R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal are listed as creators, with Martin of course being the creator of the book series. Condal has screenplay credit for Rampage and the Dwane Johnson Hercules. Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the GoT episode “Battle of the Bastards,” has been brought in to be co screenwriters with Condal.
What we will get from this adventure remains to be seen, but considering how much of a cash cow it was, I doubt we are leaving Westeros anytime soon.
(image: HBO)
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