New “House of the Dragon” trailer hints at ferocious Targaryen civil war

A new trailer for HBO’s House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel series, has been released showing more glimpses of the story focusing on the Targaryen civil war.

Audiences have been away from the world of Game of Thrones for over three years now after the series ended in 2019. But all of that is about to change as they go back to George R.R. Martin’s fantasy franchise. House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel series, premieres on August 21 on HBO.

Based on Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, writer Ryan Condal and director Miguel Sapochnik are the showrunners of the 10-episode series. Sapochnik is no stranger to Martin’s fantasy world as he previously directed numerous episodes of Game of Thrones, and served as an executive producer earning Primetime Emmy Awards for his work.

The series, which takes place 200 years before the timeline of Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow and the original Game of Thrones series, focuses on the reign of the Targaryen Empire, and as Entertainment Weekly explains, this is “during the Dance of the Dragons, which is a civil war that broke out among House Targaryen over succession of the Iron Throne.”

In the trailer, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best, says a quote that appears to set the bar for how the series may go: “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.”

This is told to Princes Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), who looks to be the next one to sit on the Iron Throne. King Viserys I (Paddy Considine), is already on the Iron Throne and is looking to succeed its power to Rhaenyra, who is his firstborn. Unfortunately, this does not fly over well with some of the people of the land of Westeros, similar to what Daenerys goes through in the original Game of Thrones series.

We see the “Lords of Westeros, including House Stark and House Baratheon,” familiar other house names that audiences have learned from Game of Thrones, who appear to be in support of this decision, but there are others who have different plans, such as Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), “Viserys‘ younger brother,” who is, “another would-be claimant of the throne.”

While audiences can see some of the characters, there are still some who have not been seen yet, including Tom Glynn-Carney’s portrayal of Visery’s firstborn son, Aegon Targaryen, someone who will oppose Rhaenyra and bring even more conflict to the series.

Audiences also finally get a glimpse of both dragons and dragon eggs in the trailer, as well as, “Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of House Targaryen.”

Since this series will focus on the Targaryens, it is clear that there will be special effects and visuals with the display of magnificent dragons.

As Variety reported, House of the Dragon cost under $20 million per episode.  It would seem best to avoid the price of production for a series to rise the way it did for Game of Thrones, which started at $6 million per episode in its first season and moved to $15 million in its final season.

With this in mind, Variety continues to report that, “HBO is now so adept at these world-building series through years of not just ‘GoT,’ but also producing ‘Westworld’ and ‘His Dark Materials,’ that the team can make a high-quality series as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

In the eleven years since Game of Thrones premiered, Martin’s fantasy franchise can be produced even more efficiently and effectively in a way that is already evident in the latest trailer.

While audiences were able to see a quick glimpse into the events that will unfold in House of the Dragon as the brutal Dance of the Dragons civil war that leads to the “beginning of the end of Westeros’ ruling family” unravels, they still have to wait till August 21 when House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and ends the George R.R. Martin fantasy television drought.