'House of the Dragon' Captures the Bloody Battle of the Targaryen Siblings

HBO first put in a straight-to-series order for House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel revolving around the steady demise of the House Targaryen, in October 2019.

With Paddy Considine and Olivia Cooke in the lead roles, the brand new fantasy drama focuses on the challenges the descendants of King Viserys Targaryen, including Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), have to face. What is House of the Dragon about?

The teaser trailer for George R.R. Martin' and Ryan J. Condal's latest series dropped on May 5, 2022. The clip teases details about the complex family dynamics between Daemon, Viserys's brother, Rhaenyra, Viserys's daughter, and the rest of the clan. Taking place some 200 years before the events captured on Game of Thrones, the show promises 10 episodes of drama, intrigue, and, of course, a handful of mind-blowing battle scenes.

House of the Dragon is based on George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood. Viserys's death gives way to a power vacuum. Daemon and Rhaenyra build an alliance to secure their place as the next rulers of Westeros and make history. But their animosity with Viserys's son with Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), and another leadership hopeful, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), paves the way for a civil war.

Other family members who want to lay claim to the Iron Throne include Ser Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), Corlys's (Steve Toussaint), and Rhaenys's (Eve Best) son.

The Dance of the Dragons refers to Aegon II and Rhaenyra's deadly battle for the Iron Throne, which ends in the tragic passing of both half-siblings. But the Dance of the Dragons costs many more lives than just that of the two leadership hopefuls. For instance, the event culminated in the death of more than a dozen of dragons, per Vulture.

House of the Dragon has been in the making for quite some time now. As George, the co-creator of the show, wrote in a blog post, he first approached HBO with the idea for a prequel in the summer of 2016, long before Game of Thrones concluded.

"House of the Dragon has been in development for several years, though the title has changed a couple of times during that process," George wrote. "It was actually the first concept I pitched to HBO when we started talking about a successor show, way back in the summer of 2016."

The casting began in 2020. The filming of the show kicked off in April 2021 in Europe. The filming locations include Lokrum island near Dubrovnik, Croatia, Castleton, Derbyshire, England, U.K., and Spain.

Season 1, Episode 1 of House of the Dragon premieres on HBO Max on Aug. 22, 2022.