House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is the second television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Based on parts of Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood, the series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Featuring an ensemble cast, the show portrays the events leading up to the decline of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons".
House of the Dragon received a straight-to-series order in October 2019, with Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik serving as showrunners. The series premiered on August 21, 2022, with the first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was renewed for a second season five days after its premiere. Sapochnik departed as showrunner after the first season, leaving Condal as the sole showrunner for the second season. The second season premiered on June 16, 2024, with eight episodes. The series was renewed for a third season in June 2024, which premiered on June 21, 2026 and consists of eight episodes. A fourth and final season is in development and expected to be released in 2028.
The premiere of House of the Dragon was watched by over 10 million viewers across the linear channels and HBO Max on the first day, the biggest in HBO's history. The series has received positive reviews. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, while Emma D'Arcy earned two nominations for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama. It earned nine Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, and won three British Academy Television Craft Awards.
Contents
Cast and characters
Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen (season 1; uncredited season 2): The fifth king of the Seven Kingdoms. Known as "a warm, kind, and decent man", Viserys was chosen by a council of lords to succeed his grandfather, Jaehaerys I Targaryen, as king. Viserys is the firstborn son of Jaehaerys's second son Baelon Targaryen and his sister-wife Alyssa Targaryen. He is a former dragonrider who was bonded to the dragon Balerion, also known as the "The Black Dread", and was its last rider before its death.
Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen: The younger brother of Viserys and uncle / second husband of Rhaenyra Targaryen. Known as the "Rogue Prince" for his unpredictable behavior, Daemon is a fierce warrior and wields the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. He is a formidable dragonrider who is bonded to the dragon Caraxes, also known as the "Blood Wyrm".
Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen: Viserys's daughter and heir apparent, the firstborn and only surviving child of Viserys and his first wife, Aemma Arryn. She was praised as the "Realm's Delight" during her youth. She is crowned queen by her supporters, the "Blacks", after her step-mother and former friend, Alicent Hightower, usurped the throne for her own son – Rhaenyra's half-brother – , by claiming that Viserys changed his successor with his dying breath. She is a dragonrider who is bonded to the dragon Syrax.
Milly Alcock (season 1; guest season 2) portrays a younger version of the character.
Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower (seasons 1–2; uncredited season 3): Alicent's father and Viserys's Hand of the King. He continues to hold his position under Aegon II Targaryen until being replaced by Criston Cole. When his daughter became queen, Otto began plotting to put her eldest son Aegon on the Iron Throne, instead of Rhaenyra.
Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon: The Lord of Driftmark and head of House Velaryon, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms. Known as "the Sea Snake", he is the most famous seafarer in Westerosi history. He serves as Viserys's Master of Ships until his resignation and later serves as Rhaenyra's Hand of the Queen.
Episodes
Production
Development
In 2015, with Game of Thrones still in production, HBO executives approached A Song of Ice and Fire writer George R. R. Martin regarding possible successors or spin-offs to the series. In November 2018, Martin stated that a "potential spin-off series would be solidly based on material in Fire & Blood." Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss stated they wanted to "move on" from the franchise and declined involvement in subsequent projects. By September 2019, a Game of Thrones prequel series from Martin and Ryan Condal that "tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen" was close to receiving a pilot order from HBO.
In October 2019, House of the Dragon was given a straight-to-series order. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, who won an Emmy Award for directing the episode "Battle of the Bastards", were selected to serve as showrunners. In 2016, Condal pitched the idea of a series based on Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg, however HBO initially passed on it. The series begins 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, ultimately leading to the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. The project is a reworking of the rejected spin-off concept from Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman, on which HBO officially passed.
Inspiration for the series came from English medieval history and the Anarchy, a war of succession after the death of Henry I of England between his nephew Stephen of Blois and only surviving child, Empress Matilda, who had fled to Normandy in the 12th century. In January 2020, Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming, stated that writing had begun. Writers for the show include Condal and Sara Hess, who previously wrote for Deadwood and Orange Is the New Black. Martin was also involved in the pre-production, providing input on storylines and reviewed scripts and rough cuts.
On August 26, 2022, less than a week after its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. On August 31, Miguel Sapochnik stepped down as director and co-showrunner for the second season, but remained an executive producer. Alan Taylor, who directed Game of Thrones episodes, joined in season two and serves as an executive producer and director. On his personal blog in December 2023, Martin stated the third and fourth seasons are being written.
In June 2024, ahead of the second-season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season, which also consists of eight episodes. After the second season finished airing in August 2024, Condal said the series is intended to end after the fourth season. In November 2025, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which is expected to be released in 2028. In January 2026, Condal confirmed that the fourth season would be the last season of House of the Dragon.
Casting
Casting for the first season began in July 2020. In October 2020, Paddy Considine was cast as Viserys I Targaryen. By December, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, and Emma D'Arcy were cast as Alicent Hightower, Daemon Targaryen, and Rhaenyra Targaryen, respectively. In February 2021, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Sonoya Mizuno were added to the main cast. By April, Fabien Frankel joined the cast as Ser Criston Cole. In July, Emily Carey and Milly Alcock were added to the cast as younger counterparts of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen, respectively.
In April 2023, Gayle Rankin, Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, and Abubakar Salim were announced to have joined the cast for the second season. In December, Tom Taylor, Clinton Liberty, Jamie Kenna, Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, and Vincent Regan joined the cast.
In January 2025, James Norton was announced to have joined the cast for the third season. In March, Tommy Flanagan and Dan Fogler joined the cast. In April, Tom Cullen, Joplin Sibtain, and Barry Sloane joined the cast. In July, Annie Shapero joined the cast.
Filming
Principal photography on the ten-episode first season of the series began in April 2021. The series was filmed primarily in the United Kingdom. The Spanish publication Hoy reported that House of the Dragon would be filmed in the Province of Cáceres in western Spain between October 11–21, 2021. The provincial capital of Cáceres along with the medieval town of Trujillo were used in scenes for King's Landing. From October 26–31, the series was filmed in Portugal at the Castle of Monsanto. The majority of season 1 was shot using Arri Alexa cameras; specifically Alexa 65s for the main camera and the Alexa Mini LFs as additional cameras.
Locations in Cornwall, England included St Michael's Mount, Holywell Beach and Kynance Cove. Other locations included Castleton, Derbyshire, in areas such as Cave Dale, Eldon Hill Quarry and the Market Place. Some scenes were shot in Aldershot, Hampshire. In February 2022, HBO confirmed that the first season of House of the Dragon had wrapped production. Visual effects for the series were produced in part by Pixomondo, who worked on Game of Thrones and received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Visual Effects. In October 2022, it was reported that the OSVP stage at Leavesden Studios, used in the series, was shutting down.
The second season began filming on April 11, 2023, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Watford, England, and moved to Cáceres, Spain on May 18, 2023. The series continued filming throughout the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Despite the show originating in the United States, the largely British cast works under local rules governed by the sister union Equity. Filming wrapped by September 29, 2023.
Filming for the third season began on March 21, 2025, at Leavesden Studios, Watford and wrapped by that October.
Music
It was announced in February 2021 that Ramin Djawadi would compose the score for the series. Djawadi had previously composed the music for Game of Thrones, which garnered him three Grammy Awards nominations and two Emmy Awards wins. Djawadi and the showrunners opted to retain the Game of Thrones theme music for House of the Dragon. The track debuted in the opening credits of the second episode.
In an interview with The A.V. Club, Djawadi stated that the original theme song was used to "tie the shows together". For the first season's soundtrack, Djawadi, along with Condal and Sapochnik, watched each episode and made notes on when the music should occur and what mood the music should set. Character motifs from Game of Thrones are also featured in House of the Dragon, including the Dragon theme "Dracarys".
Language
Game of Thrones conlanger David J. Peterson returned to continue his work on the constructed language High Valyrian. Peterson stated that, unlike Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon features scene-long dialogue in High Valyrian. In the series, High Valyrian is spoken by both Targaryens and Velaryons, requiring cast members to learn the language. Emma D'Arcy reportedly enjoyed learning it, while Matt Smith initially dreaded it and found it daunting.
Budget
The production budget of the first season of House of the Dragon was nearly $200 million, which equates to an average of just below $20 million per episode. In comparison, Game of Thrones cost around $100 million per season, beginning with nearly $6 million per episode from seasons one to five, around $10 million for every episode in seasons six and seven, and up to $15 million each episode in its eighth and final season, earning $285 million in profits per season over its eight seasons. According to Deadline Hollywood, the marketing budget was over $100 million, comparable to the budget for a blockbuster theatrical film.
Release
House of the Dragon premiered on August 21, 2022. It is HBO's first new series to stream in 4K, Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos on its sister streaming platform HBO Max. The second season premiered on June 16, 2024. The third season premiered on June 21, 2026.
International broadcast
In New Zealand, the series is distributed by Sky's SoHo TV channel and Neon streaming service. In the Philippines, SKY broadcasts the show via its main cable television services and other digital streaming platforms. In India, JioHotstar distributes the show. In the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the series airs on Sky Atlantic and its accompanying streaming service Now. In Canada, House of the Dragon is available on Bell Media's Crave streaming service and its HBO linear channel. In Australia, the series is available for streaming on Binge and Foxtel.
Home media
The first season was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray, including a SteelBook special edition, standard Blu-ray, and DVD in December 2022, and contains over an hour of behind-the-scenes features. The second season was released on all the same physical media formats in November 2024.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 90% based on 873 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Covering an era of tenuous peace with ferocious – albeit abbreviated – focus, House of the Dragon is an impressive prequel that exemplifies the court intrigue that distinguished its predecessor." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the first season received a score of 69 out of 100 based on 43 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 84% based on 283 reviews, with an average rating of 7.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Approaching its dynastic cataclysm with a deliberate stride rather than a charging gallop, House of the Dragon carefully sets up its emotional stakes to make the fiery spectacle all the more scorching." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 73 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season holds an approval rating of 91% based on 163 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The fate of Westeros comes to a head in a reinvigorated and riveting third season of House of the Dragon, complete with wicked new characters and more thrilling battles, crafting a punchy prequel that matches the expectations of its predecessor." On Metacritic, the third season received a score of 75 out of 100 based on 27 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Viewership
The day after the series premiere, HBO said the episode had been viewed by an estimated 9.99 million viewers in the U.S. on its first night of availability – including linear viewers and streams on HBO Max – which it said was the largest single-day viewership for a series debut in the service's history, dethroning Euphoria. After one week of availability, the viewership rose to nearly 25 million in the U.S. across all platforms. Nielsen estimated that the episode was watched by 10.6 million viewers on HBO Max in the first four days, with the number increasing to 14.5 million when including the viewership on the main HBO channel.
Season 2 had a debut of 7.8 million viewers across linear and streaming on its Sunday night premiere, which was a 22% viewership decline from the previous season which had 10 million. In Latin America, viewership was up 30% from season 1. According to Samba TV, viewership for its initial airing of the premiere was watched by 1.3 million U.S. households, compared to 2.6 million for season 1. The series garnered its highest streaming viewership for a particular week during the week of June 17–23, 2024, according to Nielsen, garnering a viewership of 1.23 billion minutes.
The season 3 premiere saw 21.5 million viewers across both linear and streaming platforms worldwide.
Comparisons with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Critics, fans, and publications have drawn comparisons between House of the Dragon and fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video. The Rings of Power is a prequel series set thousands of years before the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, while House of the Dragon is a prequel series set hundreds of years before Game of Thrones. The similar fantasy genre, close release dates, and extensive fan bases were cited in articles comparing the two series. Commentators and fans alike have described these comparisons as the "biggest battle in TV history".
More negative criticism from the two fan bases also included the character diversity, with some publications describing some of the criticism as racist. Martin stated that although he hopes both shows are successful, he wants to see House of the Dragon "succeed more." Lindsey Weber, an executive producer for The Rings of Power, stated that the head-to-head conflict between the two shows are "totally manufactured by the media for headlines". Show co-creator J. D. Payne said the only competition he sees is with "themselves"; however, he wishes well for "anyone else working on storytelling".
The budget for The Rings of Power is almost $450 million more than House of the Dragon. Both series fared successfully in the ratings. According to Nielsen and first-party data, The Rings of Power's first two episodes had more than 1.25 billion streaming minutes after three days of availability. In comparison, a few hours after the episode two premiere of House of the Dragon, the show had reached more than 1.06 billion streaming minutes. Following the season finale for House of the Dragon, weekly streaming viewership passed 1 billion viewing minutes for the first time.
According to Nielsen data, The Rings of Power has a higher percentage of older viewers, with more than 70% of viewers being over the age of 35. In any given week, The Rings of Power tended to have more streams than House of the Dragon given that the viewership of House of the Dragon was split between those watching online and those watching on HBO channel while that of The Rings of Power was online only. Following both series debuts, streaming viewership for The Rings of Power decreased over the first season, while House of the Dragon viewership increased.
Accolades
House of the Dragon received nine Primetime Emmy Awards nominations in 2023, including Outstanding Drama Series, winning one for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes. The series won the Golden Globe Award Best Television Series – Drama in 2023, while Emma D'Arcy earned two Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama nominations in 2023 and 2025. Other nominations include three Critics' Choice Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.