Everything you need to know to watch “House of the Dragon”

So you are ready to head back to Westeros, but you need to orientate yourself.

Don’t be afraid, we’re here to help. The premiere of the series “Game of Thrones” “House of the Dragon” on Sunday, August 21 at 21:00 on HBO and HBO max.. The action takes place some 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and follows the Targaryen family (the ancestors of Daenerys and Jon Snow) through the civil war. The prequel also sheds some light on why Dany and Jon end up being the last Targaryen and why Dany’s trio of dragons were the last three in a world that was once full of them.

Here’s everything you need to know about House of the Dragon.

Plot

This show is based on George RR Martin’s book, Fire and Blood, which describes the (fictional) story of the Targaryen. This gives the program more freedom to fill in some of the character’s motivations that are bare bones on the page. It also means that since these events belong to the “past” of this world, if you want to find out how these characters will eventually die (or in some cases disappear to be presumed dead), we will not spoil their fate – but these information is available if you choose to search for it.

The core story is the civil war between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon II, in which one of them will take the throne from his father, Viserys I. So once again, like “GoT”, it is a conflict over who sit on an uncomfortable pointed chair. But that puts a sister to a brother and a dragon to a dragon.

Remember how dirty the GoT war was when Daenerys brought her dragons? Both sides have beasts. But the show will not throw war at us immediately, it will follow the events that led to it. It will start with Viserys (Paddy Considine) on the throne, contemplating his line of succession, even before the birth of Aegon II, when Rhaenyra is just a young teenager (played by Milly Alcock in the first episodes and Emma D’Arcy after the time jump). Expect a lot of palace intrigue and political intrigue. And expect it to span a longer period of time than the “GoT”, with more time leaps than the previous program.

World

It’s the world of Westeros with many of the familiar visuals from Game of Thrones, but instead of jumping around in all its nooks and crannies, we’re focusing on King’s Landing (and some Dragon Rocks) and the silver-haired, incestuous Targaryen family. You can also expect many other dragons. The three Daenerys dragons were new to “Game of Thrones” that all of them Oh! and achhhed end. In this era of Westeros, dragons are countless.

Major players

The key characters are King Viserys I (Considine); his insidious brother Daemon (Matt Smith) and the king’s daughter, Rhaenyr (Alcock and D’Arcy), who is a bit too close to her uncle Daemon, who seeks to become the first woman on the Iron Throne long before her descendant, Daenerys.

Apart from their immediate family, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is the King’s Hand – he is the King’s closest adviser and he hates Daemon. His daughter – Alicent (played by Emily Carey young and Olivia Cooke after the time jump), who starts out as Rhaenyra’s friend – will be a key figure in the unfolding civil war. Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) is also a powerful ally of some of these characters.

The premiere of “The House of the Dragon” on Sunday, August 21 at 21:00 on HBO and HBO Max.