It’s Official—the Game of Thrones Prequel House of the Dragon Coming to HBO
HBO has made it official in a tweet heard around the world (and Westeros)—they’ve ordered House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel dealing with the Targaryens, straight to series.
#HouseOfTheDragon, a #GameofThrones prequel is coming to @HBO.
The series is co-created by @GRRMSpeaking and Ryan Condal. Miguel Sapochnik will partner with Condal as showrunner and will direct the pilot and additional episodes. Condal will be writing the series. pic.twitter.com/9ttMzElgXm
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) October 29, 2019
House of the Dragon is based on George R. R. Martin‘s book “Fire and Blood” and is centered on House Targaryen some 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The fact that HBO has given this a straight to series order means we’ll be seeing the entire 10-episode run. This is manna from heaven for Game of Thrones fans after the other prequel series, starring Naomi Watts, wasn’t picked up once HBO passed after seeing the pilot.
Joining Martin are longtime GoT director Miguel Sapochnik, who is on board as one of the showrunners and director of the pilot and additional episodes. Ryan Condal is writing the series. We don’t know a ton about what to expect here, save for what Martin has hinted at on his blog in the past. Those hints include this intriguing bit:
“The World of Ice & Fire is a WORLD, boys and girls. Huge continents, ten thousand years of history, cities, deserts, oceans, mysteries, triumphs and tragedies. If there were indeed eight million stories in The Naked City in the 50s, surely there are eight billion stories to be told about Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos, and the lands beyond the Sunset Sea, south of Oz and north of Shangri-La…
Martin’s “Fire and Blood” is a Targaryen history book and a companion to his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. It follows those infamous dragonlords in House Targaryen when they took over Dragonstone. It begins with Aegon the Conquerer, the Targaryen who created the Iron Throne and tracks this once noble, always dangerous house through the years to the Dance of Dragons, the civil war that nearly obliterated their line.
Here’s the official synopsis for Martin’s book. No release date has been set for the series.
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.
What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.
Featured image: Episode 67 (season 7, episode 7), debut 8/27/17: Emilia Clarke. Photo courtesy of HBO
