Let's Break Down Exactly When 'House of the Dragon' Is Set Before 'Game of Thrones'

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Episodes 1-4 of House of the Dragon on HBO.

There's silver hair everywhere in House of the Dragon but no sign of our girl Daenerys Targaryen. What gives?

The Game of Thrones prequel is slowly but surely setting the stage for the Dance of the Dragons — the Targaryen civil war that tore the most powerful family in Westeros apart from the inside. So when exactly is House of the Dragon set in the timeline?

Before we delve into the timeline, here's a bit of important context — George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones novels fall under his A Song of Ice and Fire series. George has yet to finish The Winds of Winter, the next book in the ASOIAF series.

However, he did find time to complete Fire & Blood, a prequel series exploring the entire history of House Targaryen. So House of the Dragon is a television adaption of Fire & Blood.

You won't find Daenerys running into Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) anytime soon on House of the Dragon.

The first episode of House of the Dragon made the show's timeline quite clear — the series begins in the ninth year of the reign of King Viserys I (Paddy Considine), exactly 172 years before the birth of one Daenerys Targaryen.

A ScreenRant report delves a bit further into the exact years of the House of the Dragon timeline. Years in George's universe are set in BC and AC — before and after the conquest of King Aegon I, the man who successfully united the Seven Kingdoms under his rule.

So the ninth year of King Viserys's I's reign is 112 AC, when Rhaenyra is 15 years old. For comparison's sake, Game of Thrones begins in the year 298 AC.

George R.R. Martin was kind enough to give us an answer. During an interview that aired on The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet), George explained that the show's opening scene with King Jaehaerys I took place in 101 AC, so then, "The [Targaryen civil] war itself breaks out in 129 AC, so we have basically a 28-year run just in the first season here."

We know that House of the Dragon has already been renewed for a second season. It's currently unknown how many years Season 2 will cover. However, what we do know is that the Dance of the Dragons (i.e., the Targaryen civil war) takes place from 129 AC to 131 AC.

In the interim, our girl Rhaenyra has a wedding to go to — her own! What will happen at Rhaenyra's wedding in House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 5 on Sept. 18, 2022? Rest assured it will likely be straight fire.