The first image that viewers see in the nearly 3-minute trailer for HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, that just debuted online is the fabled Iron Throne in the distance. Shrouded in shadow, with haunting music playing in the background. And no further explanation is needed, really, beyond that striking image to lay out the stakes at the heart of this new narrative based on the work of George R.R. Martin.
Once again, a war for the throne. Wars, battles, dragons, and the consequences and corruptibility of power.
“What is this brief, mortal life, if not the pursuit of legacy?”
Those are the words of Corlys Velaryon, the head of House Velaryon in this prequel series who’s also the husband of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. You could also argue that there’s a similar idea at work in what HBO is trying to do with this project. To correct old wrongs (i.e., the too-rushed travesty of Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season), and to put a stake in the ground amid a streaming landscape that’s awash in top-tier prequel series (like AMC’s sublime Better Call Saul) at the moment.
House of the Dragon trailer
We’ve embedded the trailer for House of the Dragon, which is coming to HBO Max on August 21, below.
The network, as a reminder, ordered 10 episodes in late 2019, just months after Game of Thrones concluded. Among the key details to know, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal serve as co-showrunners and executive producers for the show. Sapochnik might be best known in the industry for directing a few of the most memorable episodes of Game of Thrones to ever air, including Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards, The Winds of Winter, and The Long Night.
READ MORE: House of the Dragon will be ‘really f***ing good,’ says Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage
“What is this brief, mortal life, if not the pursuit of legacy?”
Even before Game of Thrones ended one of the most celebrated runs in TV history, HBO executives were already grappling with a question reminiscent of the plotting and scheming for Westeros’ fabled throne:
How else to wring more TV magic out of the Martin-verse?
As much as fans hated the ending, millions of Thrones viewers will undoubtedly tune in for the next show set in the same universe. Especially if this new trailer is an indication of what’s in store. Indeed, what better way to attract new subscribers to HBO Max than the follow-up to the biggest TV show ever made? In hindsight, there should have never been any doubt that HBO would return to Martin’s world.
HBO’s logline for the new series: “Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.”
