Game of Thrones fans, it is time for you to rejoice as the franchise is getting extended with a brand new prequel series. House of the Dragon is created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal for HBO and serves as the prequel series to GoT (2011–2019). It is based on portions of Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood which is set 200 hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones. It also covers portions from the book leading up to the “Dance of the Dragons”.
The release of the House of the Dragon trailer has left everyone mesmerizing and the upcoming series sure does look promising and interesting. The premise of the upcoming fantasy drama will cover the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the subsequent events that lead up to the Targaryen war of succession and, the ultimate outcome of who gets to sit on the Iron Throne.
House of the Dragon stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Lady Alicent Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower. Ahead of the release of the show, let’s closely look at the recently released trailer from the show and analyze certain aspects of it.
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House of the Dragon Trailer Breakdown
The House of the Dragon trailer opens with a woman with platinum blonde hair, an iconic Targaryen feature, walking into the room housing the Iron Throne. It can be assumed that it is Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra, whose battle to sit on the throne forms the crux of this season. Viserys Targaryen’s voiceover plays as we move from one shot to another resonating with the dialogue at the beginning of the trailer.
Viserys says, “The dream, it was clearer than a memory, and I heard the sound of thundering hooves, splintering shields and training swords. And, I placed my heir upon the Iron Throne. And all the dragons roared as one”. This voice-over is accompanied by the first shot of a blurred Viserys standing in front of the fire followed by two people riding their horses- a Targaryen and a member of the king’s guard.
The latter scene can very much be Rhaenyra, accompanied by either Ser Criston Cole or Ser Harrold Westerling. With the sentence of splintering shields, we see two knights fighting in some tournament with the next scene focusing on a sword being pulled out, with Rhaenyra blurred in the background. At last, we see, Viserys placing his hand on the Iron Throne, probably deciding his heir and someone riding a dragon in front of the Dragon Pit (something we have seen during Game of Thrones Season 7).
Then we have a shot of a busy city and, it is probably King’s Landing this time around. We next head to a shot featuring the meeting of the small council, where Ser Otto Hightower creates an urgency surrounding Viserys’ succession (this is most likely because his daughter- Alicent, will soon marry the king). The conversation in the high council soon becomes the voice-over for certain other shots that play simultaneously.
Viserys seems adamant in his stance to put Rhaenyra on the throne. Lyonel Strong is heard opposing it by stating that no queen has ever sat on the Iron Throne. Lord Corlys Velaryon pulls the trump card that the king has an heir, which is his younger brother- Daemon. But, Viserys is unwilling to choose between his brother and his daughter.
As the council meeting’s conversation becomes a voiceover, we witness a shot of the jousting tournament featuring Daemon fighting and Rhaenyra watching on. Daemon’s contender is most likely presenting Rhaenyra’s claim in this scene. This is followed by Rhaenyra walking with her future husband, Laenor Velaryon by the shoreline. The marriage between Rhaenyra and Laenor is a rather pretentious deal as the latter is hinted to be gay in the books. Later, we also see Daemon standing in front of the members of the City Watch aka the Gold Cloaks, who seem pretty loyal to him as he was their commander at some point too.
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In the next shot, Rhaenyra is seen standing on the balcony as different knights present themselves to her. This can be either for marriage or offering to fight for her in some battle or tournament. It is the first time we get a closer look at Ser Cristin Cole. After the ariel shot of a smokey Dragonstone, we witness a conversation between Rhaenys and her husband, Corlys, where she warns the latter that knives will come out at Rhaenyra’s succession and it will be challenged.
There is, of course, no better person to know this than Rhaenys, who is also known as the ‘Queen Who Never’ – she was once a candidate to succeed her grandfather, King Jaehaerys, as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, but the favour was passed over to her cousin Viserys.
The segment is followed by Daemon entering the throne room with Viserys on the throne, potentially bending the knee. There are some isolated shots of Alicent Hightower, who the king ends up marrying and having sons with. A shot also shows Viserys wanting to name a new heir where Daemon says, he is the heir to the throne.
With the dialogue ‘war is afoot’ ringing in the background, we have Daemon challenge Otto Hightower for a battle. Hightower is going to be the primary antagonist in this story it seems. Shots of Rhaenyra take over- in one she is having a conversation with Cristin Cole, who is in love with her, clearly and, the other with Rhaenys, who tells her the realm will not accept a queen, to begin with. Rhaenyra claims to change the order of things when she sits on the throne.
We see an older Rhaenyra walk in, in the next shot. Dragons fly and battlefields are zoomed in and out of in the last moments of the trailer. The battleground could either be the War of the Stepstones or the Battle of the Gullet. As Viserys’ voiceover says that Dragons are not to be trifled with, we see the first close-up shot of a dragon egg and a red dragon- Craraxis.
In the latter half of the trailer of the House of the Dragon, we also see Alicent saying to someone, probably one of her children, that if Rhaenyra comes into power she will cut off any line of succession for them. We also see the differences between Rhaenyra and Alicent quite prominently in the last moments. They seemed to have been very good friends until one decided to marry the other’s father.
We get more running shots of the crown and fights. Rhaenyra sees confiding in Daemon that Alicent will block her way to the throne, showing that the two might just be together. At last, it is Rhaenys who drops a conniving bomb when she questions a grieving Alicent (maybe due to the death of Viserys) that has never imagined herself on the Iron Throne? The trailer ends with Alicent attacking Rhaenyra and a shot of a dragon with green eyes- Cyrox.
House of the Dragon Trailer
House of the Dragon premieres on August 21 on HBO Max.