The much-awaited GoT prequel, House of the Dragon, is about to drop on HBO in less than a month, and this certainly calls for a full-length trailer. The show is sketched out for at least four seasons, so the trailer gives us a clear idea of what S1 will tackle.
As you may remember from the first teaser trailer, one of the most iconic lines was: Dreams don’t make us kings, dragons do.
Before we get into all the intricate details in the trailer, watch it once again as a refresher:
1. Who’s fighting for the Iron Throne?
I. Daemon Targaryen
When the show starts, we will have King Viserys I on the throne. His succession will be the main contention of the show. Now, Viserys I wants his daughter, Rhaenyra, to take his place, becoming the first female on the Iron Throne.
The trailer also depicts a scene where he calls in all his lords to swear fealty to Rhaenyra when she was young.
But apparently having a woman as a ruler is a big no-no. Especially because Viserys I’s brother, Daemon, sees himself as a worthy successor.
II. Rhaenyra Targaryen
Although the show boasts of an ensemble cast, the first few seasons will have Rhaenyra as the main protagonist. The show draws from the Dance of the Dragons, which is the Targaryen civil war—but don’t expect to see any of those plotlines in S1.
As we see in the trailer, the story is starting right from the beginning, taking us through Rhaenyra’s childhood to depict how impossible it was for her to gain her throne. What is quite tragic is that one of Rhaenyra’s closest childhood friends will turn out to be one of her biggest enemies.
As with all things Game of Thrones, S1 will be full of schemes and backstabbing that will lay the groundwork for the big war to gain the Iron Throne, which may start in earnest in S2 and beyond.
III. Alicent Hightower
Alicent is the daughter of Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King. Although Viserys I has already designed a (female) heir, Ser Otto urges him to remarry in hopes of siring a male heir whose claim would be undisputed. Of course, he points in the direction of his own daughter, Alicent, to be the King’s second wife.
Alicent does not want the throne for herself; she’s fighting to make her son, Aegon, the king. So, although the third contender is Aegon, it will actually be Rhaenyra and Alicent going head-to-head for the Iron Throne in S1.
2. Who let the dragons out?
A big delight for GoT fans will be seeing not one, not two, but 17 dragons through the course of the show! In the trailer, we’ve already got glimpses of Caraxes, Syrax, Vhagar, and Sunfyre, who are controlled by Daemon, Rhaenyra, Aemond, and Aegon II.
You may have also noticed Daemon holding onto a dragon egg or two. The prince was notorious for wanting to gift his mistresses with dragon eggs, with the hope of securing his children with dragons.
But since possession of dragons came with so much power, the eggs were heavily monitored and couldn’t simply be gifted around. This is why Daemon faces a lot of heat from Otto… and also because Daemon just normally tends to get on people’s nerves.
3. Rhaenyra’s First Marriage
Rhaenyra will get married quite early on, proof of which is that we see her younger self dancing with Ser Laenor Velaryon, her first husband.
This won’t be Rhaenyra’s only marriage. For those who have read the book, you know what’s coming next. For those who haven’t, the show will thoroughly surprise you and I have no intentions of spoiling that!
4. Daemon’s Gold Cloaks
Let’s go back to Daemon’s rocky relationship with Otto. The two hate each other’s guts, which is why Otto sides with making Rhaenyra the heir. He’d rather see a queen on the Iron Throne than Daemon. (Of course, how long does that commitment last?)
Although Daemon will be sidelined due to Otto’s attempts, it will come to bite him in the back as the prince gains a lot of followers when he becomes Commander of the City Watch. This is also where he instills the gold cloak uniform that we continued to see in GoT.
5. Who’s the Targaryen with the eyepatch?
No, there aren’t any pirates in House of the Dragon. That guy is Aemond “One Eye” Targaryen, Alicent’s second son. In the trailer, he’s seen fighting Criston Cole, who is presumed to be Rhaenyra’s lover turned sour. While we don’t know why the two were fighting, we can attribute it to Aemond’s quick temper.
6. Alicent and the Catspaw Dagger
In quite a few scenes, we see Alicent attacking Rhaenyra with a dagger. It has been confirmed that this is the iconic Catspaw Dagger, which caused the War of the Five Kingdoms. Yes, this is also the same dagger that Arya used to kill the Night King!
7. About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
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