We all know the conclusion of epic fantasy series Game Of Thrones left a little—or a lot—to be desired by fans of the show. Even pandemic-era binge watches seemed to confirm that HBO’s greatest water-cooler hit of the 2010s had ended on a weak note—that was how they took down the Night King, after 80 hours of build-up? Seriously??
Somehow, that disappointment has only enhanced our hype for House Of The Dragon. Taking us back 200 years to a Westeros under Targaryen reign, with a whole new cast of characters and a story unleashed from George R. R. Martin’s beloved source material, perhaps the brand new series can take flight on its own merits?
House Of The Dragon will premiere on Sky and NOW on August 22, the same date as the US and global release. Ideally we shouldn’t get any spoilers, then, on just how King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is running his ancient kingdom (remember that the very first episode of GoT ended with a major character getting yeeted out of a window after peeping on some royal incest! Expect similiarly shocking cliffhangers).
Although HBO has revealed that Viserys is a “kind and decent man” in their press release for this new spin-off, good guys do not necessarily make for good kings. He should face plenty of competition from brother Prince Daemon (Last Night in Soho villain Matt Smith), cousin Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), and maybe even his own daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), a dragonrider overlooked for her gender.
All those extra vowels and royal titles might be a bit meaningless to you at this point. Check out the trailer above for a quick refresher of what all these characters look like, including House Velaryon’s dreadlocked “Sea Snake” Lord Corlys (Steve Touissant).
