While would-be viewers of House of the Dragon were treated to a brief teaser for HBO’s heralded return to the expanding Game of Thrones universe this past October, that clip’s collage of royal Targaryen palace intrigue took shape without context—at least any context that made sense to those unfamiliar with certain elements of creator George R.R. Martin’s literary lore. Now, as the show’s premiere looms closer, a new teaser trailer not only lays the foundation for a plot filled with backstabbing betrayal, but finally showcases the creatures its very title promises.
A crucial element for House Targaryen’s power over Westeros is cemented immediately in the full House of the Dragon teaser when a posse-towing Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) arrives for a King’s Landing beachside showdown with another large group while holding an object with which Game of Thrones fans are quite familiar: a dragon egg. Subsequently, as all eyes on the opposite group affix on the egg, the fear of what it represents practically permeates their faces. Appropriately enough, that scene quickly cuts to a long shot of an adult dragon draped with a Targaryen rider headed toward the kingdom’s royal palace, the Red Keep. However, all the strength demonstrated in the clip will be shown to rest on the foundation of a power-grabbing family; one that is anything but stable.
Check out the teaser trailer for House of the Dragon just below.
Westerosi leaders with familiar surnames are depicted making oaths to the sitting regent King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), setting up a seemingly sacred line that will inevitably be crossed in the most egregious ways. The pledges come from folks like Rickard Stark (actor unknown), Corlys Valaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Boremund Baratheon (actor unknown), who all promise fidelity to not just the Iron Throne’s current occupant, but (and perhaps most crucially) his named royal heir, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, a character seemingly designated as the show’s protagonist—played in younger flashback form by Milly Alcock. Yet, the actions that will ultimately define House of the Dragon will occur years later, during which it is implied that an adult Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) should not expect many of those oaths to mean all that much. Indeed, she will become the focus of a consequential collective reneging that brings about a devastatingly destructive, kingdom-reshaping civil war called the Dance of the Dragons.
While the specter of civil war will likely manifest slowly at this early point on House of the Dragon—as an adaptation of Martin’s 2018 continuity chronicle, Fire & Blood—the teaser already heavily implies that the designated ruling ascension of Rhaenyra hinges on oaths that many will ultimately choose not to fulfill. Ominously enough, we see a young Rhaenyra being told far in advance—with regretful resignation—that “men would sooner put the realm to torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.” However, the eventual opposition to her royal reign will not be conjured by men, but, rather, a woman, namely her stepmother and the wife of the imminently doomed King Viserys, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who sees Rhaenyra’s ascension as an abrogation of the birthright of her two sons. Thus, utilizing Cersei-Lannister-like maternal malevolence, Alicent will eventually form a group backing her claim, called the Greens (named for the green gown she wore at a consequential feast), leaving the pro-Rhaenyra group to be called the Blacks, (likewise named for what she wore).
Consequently, while the teaser provides House of the Dragon‘s first real glimpse of the many dragons that still exist during the show’s prequel setting of around 200 years before Game of Thrones, the most poignant thing it provides is the foundational plot elements that will shape the series across its run. And while we obviously don’t know just how long said run will ultimately last, its showrunners in Ryan Condal and esteemed GoT directorial alumnus Miguel Sapochnik seem to have concocted something that breathes new, fiery life into a franchise that absorbed significant damage from the controversy surrounding creative choices made for the main show’s 2019 final season. Thusly, the show represents a franchise that is tenaciously seeking redemption, and seems poised to do just that.
House of the Dragon is set to debut on HBO and streamer HBO Max on Sunday, August 21.
