Game Of Thrones Prequel House Of The Dragon: Everything We Know So Far

Feel that breeze? The dragons are flapping their wings and heading our way — soon.

The Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will premiere in just over a month, which makes now the perfect time to prepare yourself for a return to Westeros. (And if you're a Thrones newbie who has no idea what the last part of that sentence means, no worries! We've got you covered!)

The list below contains the important information and most interesting details about HBO's upcoming spinoff, all gathered in one handy place. Premiere date, premise, creative team, major characters and who's playing them — it's all in here. We've got photos! We've got trailers! We've got... quite a lot of ground to cover before the premiere arrives, actually.

So dive into the list below to get a good sense of what awaits you in House of the Dragon. We'll continue updating it whenever new intel is available. And when you're done, make sure to hit the comments with your thoughts about everything related to the new series.

House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones; its action is set two centuries before the events of the original series. It follows the fall of House Targaryen — aka Daenerys' (and Jon/Aegon's) family. House of the Dragon was ordered to series in October 2019; Season 1 will consist of 10 episodes.

House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 9/8c. Production got underway in April 2021, when the cast gathered for the series' first table read.

Game of Thrones author Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony) are the series' co-creators, and the concept is a reworking of an idea by Thrones co-executive producer Bryan Cogman. Thrones vet Miguel Sapochnik, who directed six episodes of the original series — including "Battle of the Bastards" and "The Long Night" — and Condal will serve as co-showrunners. Sapochnik also will direct House of the Dragon. Ramin Djawadi, who composed the score for Game of Thrones, also will be on hand.

Fire & Blood, a compendium Martin wrote chronicle the Targaryen family from his A Song of Ice and Fire novels, will provide a template for the new series. Bloys said the existence of that source material gave House of the Dragon an edge over other Thrones continuation ideas including Jane Goldman's pilot, which starred Naomi Watts (Twin Peaks) and which was killed in October 2019. "The Jane Goldman one was a bit of a bigger swing because there was a lot more invention," the exec explained. "House of the Dragon, George has text and history for that era, so there is a bit more of a road map. You understood the history and what the story would be, so it's easier to [visualize as a series]."

While the show's first poster simply depicted the Targaryen sigil — a three-headed dragon — the official key art shows Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen standing in front of the Iron Throne while a dragon stares down menacingly behind her.

House of the Dragon's cast list is long and full of familiar faces. Here are the major players:

Paddy Considine (The Outsider) as King Viserys Targaryen, a "warm, kind and decent man" who was handpicked to rule Westeros. However, "good men do not necessarily make for great kings."

Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother of King Viserys. Daemon is known for his battle skills and his dragon-riding ability. But will he succumb to the family's tendency to lose their damn minds?

Rhys Ifans (Berlin Station, Notting Hill) as Otto Hightower, Hand of the King and close counselor of King Viserys, to whom he is very loyal; father of Alicent Hightower. Otto is rather wary of Prince Daemon.

Emma D'Arcy (Truth Seekers) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, King Viserys' daughter and Prince Daemon's niece. She is an accomplished dragonrider. (The Gloaming's Milly Alcock will play a younger version of the character.)

Olivia Cook (Bates Motel) as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter, who was raised in the Red Keep and is well-versed in the royal court and its politics. (Casualty's Emily Carey will play a younger version of the character.)

Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Lord Corlys' wife. She is known as The Queen Who Never Was, owing to the fact that she was removed from succession to the throne because her cousin, Viserys, was male — and she wasn't. She also has a talent for riding dragons.

Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, a character who has been sold many times during her life and who is Prince Daemon's unlikely ally.

And the list goes on! Other players include:

Steve Toussaint (Berlin Station) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka The Sea Snake, a legendary seafarer in Westerosi history. Corlys hails from a Valyrian bloodline and has created a house that has deeper pockets than House Lannister, and which has the largest navy in existence.

Graham McTavish (Outlander) will play Ser Harrold Westerling, a knight, longtime member of the Kingsguard and overall upstanding paragon of chivalry and honor.

Ryan Corr (Wakefield) as Ser Harwin "Breakbones" Strong, eldest son to Master of Laws Lyonel Strong. Ser Harwin is heir to Harrenhal, the home occupied at turns by Tywin Lannister's army, Roose Bolton and his forces and Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish during Game of Thrones' run. Breakbones also is renowned as the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms.

David Horovitch (Doctors) as Grand Maester Mellos, King Viserys' trusted advisor and a voice of reason in the king's inner circle.

Jefferson Hall (Devs) in the dual role of twins Lord Jason Lannister and Ser Tyland Lannister. Jason is the lord of Casterly Rock, the Lannisters' ancestral home. Tyland is a shrewd politician.

Gavin Spokes (Will) as Lord Lyonel Strong, King Viserys' Master of Laws, Harwin's father and lord of Harrenhal.

Matthew Needham (Sanditon) as Larys Strong, Lyonel's son and Harwin's younger brother. He has been brought to court by his father.

Bill Paterson (Fleabag) as Lord Lyman Beesbury, Lord of Honeyhold and King Viserys' Master of Coin.

In the show's first substantial teaser, released in October 2021, Daemon Targaryen intones: "Gods, kings, fire and blood. Dreams didn't make us kings: Dragons did." Hit PLAY above to watch it.

In May 2022, we got our next look at House of the Dragon in action, when HBO released a new teaser trailer that features several heads of very familiar houses (Stark and Baratheon, in particular) pledging fealty to King Viserys and his named heir, Rhaenyra. But Raenys later warns young Rhaenyra that "men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne." We also get Daemon both holding a dragon egg and cracking skulls, and at least two very impressive shots of the mythical creatures in action. Hit PLAY above to watch the teaser.

In July, HBO released the prequel's full trailer, which focuses on House Targaryen's very complicated, intra-family fight to decide the successor to the Iron Throne. Press PLAY on the video above to watch. 

Given how important dragons were to the Targaryens, it makes sense that they'll have a major presence in the prequel. In December 2020, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar unveiled some concept art for what House of the Dragon's scaly beasts will look like.

When TVLine spoke with HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys, who is one of the few people privy to the prequel, we asked him to compare the tone of the new series to that of the original Game of Thrones. Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, he said, have "done a very, very difficult thing, I think, in that it feels wholly its own. It is focused on one family, which I think is interesting. It's a bit more focused on the Targaryens, a high drama family for sure." Bottom line: "It feels very much its own, but also within the Game of Thrones world."

After viewing rough cuts of several House of the Dragon episodes, Game of Thrones author/House of the Dragon EP Martin gave it his approval via a post on his blog. "Those of you who like complex, conflicted, grey characters (as I do) will like this series, I think."