Though Game of Thrones ended two years ago, we will be returning to Westeros once more in House Of The Dragon, and excitingly, production has now started on the spinoff.
I know it's been a while since we've screwed in our Game of Thrones brains, so let me bring everyone up to speed. House Of The Dragon takes place three centuries before the events of the TV show, and centres on one of the most controversial houses in The Known World. Originating from Valyria in the land of Essos, the Targaryens were a high-born family who were skilled in magic and metallurgy, like all Valyrians. After taming the dragons discovered in a volcanic peninsula, they were able to use them to invade and subjugate the surrounding countries. However, Daenys Targaryen had dreams of a catastrophe destroying Valyria, and her father Aenar took them to Dragonstone out of caution. In doing so, the Targaryens became the only family of dragonlords who survived the volcanic eruptions that eradicated Old Valyria.
After that, Aenar's direct descendant Aegon I Targaryen conquered the Seven Kingdoms with his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys, using the last three dragons in the world. I hope you enjoyed that history lesson, though I will guarantee that it will be a lot more entertaining in House Of The Dragon. The spinoff received a straight-to-series order in 2019, and it will draw from George R. R. Martin's book, Fire & Blood. The author is signed on to write the show alongside Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik is directing. If the name is familiar to you, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work on Battle of the Bastards in the sixth season of Game of Thrones, so you know the new series is in safe hands.
As per a tweet from the official Game of Thrones account, House Of The Dragon has entered principal production and pointed fans to a new account which will post updates on the show as it progresses. We also got photos of the cast who sat in a distanced table read recently. Paddy Considine is playing King Viserys Targaryen, who is described as a "a warm, kind and decent man." Olivia Cooke, who played Art3mis in Ready Player One, is playing his second wife Alicent Hightower. Emma D'Arcy is playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who is Viserys' daughter from his first marriage and expects to become Westeros' first ruling queen. The Crown's Matt Smith is playing Prince Daemon Targaryen, Steve Toussaint is Lord Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best is Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Rhys Ifans is Otto Hightower, Sonoya Mizuno is Mysaria, and Fabien Frankel is Ser Criston Cole. House Of The Dragon is set to arrive on HBO Max in 2022.
Topics: News, TV, Game of Thrones
