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House of the Dragon

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Photo: Courtesy of HBO

Almost two centuries before the Long Night, Red Wedding, or the Battle of the Bastards, another massive conflict wreaked havoc across Westeros. The first of many planned spin-offs of HBO’s landmark series Game of Thrones goes back to an era when the Targaryens ruled the Seven Kingdoms and dragons were plentiful.

Based on material from George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon tells the story of the Dance of Dragons and the events leading up to the brutal civil war. King Viserys I Targaryen rules over an unprecedented time of peace, but questions about his succession threaten to send the realm into chaos. Will Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen sit on the Iron Throne, or is Westeros not ready for a queen?

House of the Dragon was developed by Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. It stars Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Sonoya Mizuno, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, and a whole lot of dragons.

  1. Episode 10 The Black Queen
    House of the Dragon Season-Finale Recap: Blood of the Dragon The dragons are about to eat one another alive.
  2. Episode 9 The Green Council
    House of the Dragon Recap: Pawn, Queen, King The king is dead! Long live the king! … If the Hightowers can find Aegon and pull off this coup.
  3. Episode 8 The Lord of the Tides
    House of the Dragon Recap: A Cozy Little Melee The Targaryen and Velaryon families are not the kind of kinfolk whose problems can be solved over the dinner table.
  4. Episode 7 Driftmark
    House of the Dragon Recap: Bastards and Broken Noses The various dispersed Targaryens descend on Driftmark, and bring with them their genetically endowed abilities to be uniquely awful.
  5. Episode 6 The Princess and the Queen
    House of the Dragon Recap: A Bad Egg Like it was for the Starks in early Game of Thrones episodes, the stakes for child’s play are high for these little Targaryens.
  6. Episode 5 We Light the Way
    House of the Dragon Recap: One Wedding and Two Funerals A pack of new menaces has arrived just in time to broaden the show’s reach.
  7. Episode 4 King of the Narrow Sea
    House of the Dragon Recap: The Second Sex Congratulations to House of the Dragon for finding a way to make sex actually further the narrative and character development.
  8. Episode 3 Second of His Name
    House of the Dragon Recap: Green-Eyed Monster Viserys may swear to Rhaenyra, “On your mother’s memory, you will not be supplanted,” but Daemon is still out there, waiting in the wings.
  9. Episode 2 The Rogue Prince
    House of the Dragon Recap: The Westeros Wing Viserys actually makes pretty good decisions for a Targaryen king, which leads to boring ol’ stable politics. Luckily, there’s a dragon face-off.
  10. Episode 1 The Heirs of the Dragon
    House of the Dragon Series-Premiere Recap: A Song of Ice and Fire A Targaryen-centric prequel begins in typical Game of Thrones fashion: well-acted, violent, revolting, CGI’d to the max, and more than a little horny.
  1. Episode 7 The Red Sowing
    House of the Dragon Recap: An Army of Bastards Did the bastard massacre in the dragon pit remind anyone else of Jurassic Park?
  2. Episode 6 Smallfolk
    House of the Dragon Recap: How to Train Your Dragon Velaryons are in the ascendancy this week.
  3. Episode 5 Regent
    House of the Dragon Recap: Just Meat To more dragons! The cause of, and solution to, all Targaryen problems.
  4. Episode 4 The Red Dragon and the Gold
    House of the Dragon Recap: You Win or You Die We begged for a dragon fight all season. We just had to see dragons fighting.
  5. Episode 3 The Burning Mill
    House of the Dragon Recap: Forgotten History Rhaenyra won’t be able to avoid war for much longer.
  6. Episode 2 Rhaenyra the Cruel
    House of the Dragon Recap: Brothers In Arms Have you seen anyone fail upward as spectacularly as Ser Criston Cole?
  7. Episode 1 A Son for a Son
    House of the Dragon Season-Premiere Recap: Rat Race Well, it looks like peace won’t be an option, thanks to Daemon.
  • fire & blood & points House of the Dragon Scorecard: Ride or Die You can’t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs, and you can’t fight a dragon war without charring a few commoners. By Brian Grubb
  • fire and blood What About Laenor? Seasmoke has some explaining to do on House of the Dragon. By Savannah Salazar
  • about face You Know Who This Guy Is No matter the role, Freddie Fox is playing your new favorite unlikable snot. By Brian Grubb

Interviews

Latest on House of the Dragon

  1. fire and blood and points
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: Whispers and SandwichesThis war’s most successful battle yet is won without a single dragon.
    By Brian Grubb
  2. drip king
    Simon Russell Beale Deserves the FancamsThe legendary theater actor is commanding House of the Dragon stans’ attention and making a dour series more tolerable to watch.
    By Fran Hoepfner
  3. chat room
    Gayle Rankin Was ‘Struggling Every Day’ to Define Alys RiversBut we should know more of the Witch Queen of Harrenhal’s story before HOTD’s season ends, she teases.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  4. close read
    Daemon the DisappointingHouse of the Dragon doesn’t know what to do with the Prince Who Pouts.
    By Nicholas Quah
  5. number one boy
    House of the Dragon Just Made Incest Taboo AgainWhen it comes to Oedipal ick, Daemon told Robin Arryn, “Hey kid, hold my breast milk.”
    By Roxana Hadadi
  6. fire and blood and points
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: Burn NoticeWhile everyone else is raising armies and rounding up dragons, Mysaria will fight the battle of hot gossip.
    By Brian Grubb
  7. chat room
    House of the Dragon’s Harry Collett Applauds Jace’s ‘Genuinely Good Suggestion’“If it was going to be anyone, it was going to be Jace, because no one would have the balls — or or even the mind — to suggest that to Rhaenyra.”
    By James Grebey
  8. fan theories
    Where’s Nettles?House of the Dragon has slowly been seeding important new characters, but one book favorite is still missing.
    By Nate Jones
  9. fire fight
    Some Burning Questions About DragonsExactly how hot is their blood and other issues raised by House of the Dragon’s battle at Rook’s Rest.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  10. miss you already
    Rhaenys Could End You With One LookAnd so could her dragon, for that matter.
    By Dee Lockett
  11. here are my dragons!
    Get to Know House of the Dragon’s Royal Air ForcesAs the Dance of the Dragons heats up, let’s review the airborne arsenals Teams Green and Black are working with.
    By Sean T. Collins
  12. fire & blood & points
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: Crown RoastDaemon is going to be so, so mad when he learns he missed a dragon fight.
    By Brian Grubb
  13. chat room
    Eve Best Saw Rhaenys’s ‘Kamikaze Mission’ As a ‘Relief’“To me, that’s pure whatever she is — Arthurian knight, Lancelot, samurai.”
    By Roxana Hadadi
  14. vulture lists
    Westeros Twins Ranked by Real Twins the Lucas BrothersMaybe George R.R. Martin secretly wants to be a twin?
    By The Lucas Bros
  15. the girls aren’t fighting
    Let House of the Dragon’s Women Be EvilThere’s gotta be a happy medium between legendary cruelty and benevolent naïveté.
    By Nate Jones
  16. something to chew on
    13 TV Conversation Starters for Your Fourth of July BarbecueSpecifically about The Bear, House of the Dragon, The Boys, and The Acolyte.
    By Jesse David Fox
  17. a song of light and fire
    House of the Dragon Loves LampWhoever upped the budget for candles, lanterns, and sconces this season, we thank you.
    By Roxana Hadadi and Kathryn VanArendonk
  18. chat room
    House of the Dragon’s Ewan Mitchell Wanted His Nude Scene to Shock You“All of these people in front of him? They mean nothing.”
    By Sean T. Collins
  19. fire & blood & points
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: A Failure to CommunicateIf Viserys and Alicent had named their son Larry, this all could have been avoided.
    By Brian Grubb
  20. fire & blood & points
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: Double TroubleSo far this season is two for two on bungled murder plots.
    By Brian Grubb
  21. chat room
    House of the Dragon’s Phia Saban on Playing Helaena’s Worst-Case Scenario“She’s still very much in the beginning of processing her own grief, and suddenly she’s just an object for the people’s grief to be projected onto.”
    By James Grebey
  22. sibling rivalry
    House of the Dragon’s Identical-Face-Off Deserves a Second LookThe Cargyll twins slash their way across the thin line between tragedy and comedy.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  23. it’s not tv it’s not hbo it’s max
    House of the Dragon Season Two Was Max’s Best Streaming Day EverBut a 20 percent decrease in viewership overall from season one.
    By Bethy Squires
  24. a son for a son
    How Long Has This Been Going On, Alicent and Ser Criston?We have some theories … about Daeron Targaryen.
    By Savannah Salazar
  25. rawr
    Olivia Cooke’s House of the Dragon ‘Animalistic’ Sex Scene Got Cut“It was messy as fuck. It wasn’t beautiful, and that was really fun to do.”
    By Alejandra Gularte
  26. team meme
    House of the Dragon Memes Light Up the InternetStifle the pain of child death with laughter!
    By Savannah Salazar
  27. cue ramin
    The House of the Dragon Title Sequence Is a Targaryen History LessonBasically like the Westerosi equivalent of Crash Course.
    By Savannah Salazar
  28. a son for a son
    House of the Dragon Scorecard: Bad Plan, Worse ExecutionAs bad omens go, a ratcatcher kicking a dog is up there.
    By Brian Grubb
  29. a son for a son
    House of the Dragon’s Blood and Cheese Moment Should Have Been NastierWithout the source material’s Sophie’s Choice torment, it’s just another scene of violence in a show full of scenes of violence.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  30. a long talk
    House of the Dragon’s Two Queens Would Rather Co-Rule WesterosEmma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke relive Rhaenyra and Alicent’s season-one arc: “The whole series is about trying to get back to each other.”
    By Roxana Hadadi
  31. rebecca is a food critic now
    You Probably Shouldn’t Eat All of This House of the Dragon FoodBut you can. And I did!
    By Rebecca Alter
  32. fire and blood
    How to Watch House of the Dragon When You Know NothingIt’s totally fine if you can’t remember the houses, the dragons, or anything else.
    By Jen Chaney
  33. fire and blood
    House of the Dragon Soars to New HeightsOh, we’re dancing now.
    By Nicholas Quah
  34. fire and blood
    Everything That Happened on Season One of House of the DragonIncest, betrayal, blood feuds, and dragons. A lot of dragons.
    By Nate Jones and Basma Bedawi
  35. fire and blood
    Who’s Who in Westeros: A House of the Dragon Character GuideKeeping up with the Targaryens.
    By Sean T. Collins
  36. coming soon
    House of the Dragon Schemes Its Way to Third SeasonThe plots to take the Iron Throne never cease.
    By Zoe Guy
  37. family feuds
    Previously, on Days of Our DragonsBefore House of the Dragon returns, let’s untangle the bonds that unite — and the grudges that divide — Teams Green and Black.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  38. profile
    Is This Your King?House of the Dragon’s Tom Glynn-Carney is so good at playing pathetic you almost forget you’re supposed to hate him.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  39. announcements
    Join ‘House of the Dragon Club’ and Watch the New Season With UsMayhaps we’ll take the Iron Throne if we work together …
    By The Editors
  40. a bad idea worth considering
    It’s Not Too Late to Fix House of the Dragon’s Color WarsIt should be Team Gold versus Team Red.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
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