On August 21, HBO’s prequel series House of the Dragon will take fans of the Emmy-winning Game of Thrones universe back to Westeros. The series, which is based on Fire & Blood by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, will depict the Seven Kingdoms two centuries before Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) fought for the Iron Throne. Cast and crew members talked about everything from the controversial Game of Thrones finale to the gender dynamics in Westeros in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Milly Alcock, Ryan Corr, Phoebe Campbell, Fabien Frankel, Bethany Antonia, Matt Smith, Sonoya Mizuno, Emily Carey, Rhys Ifans, Harry Collett, and other actors can be found in the House of Dragons cast.
Martin and Ryan Condal collaborated to create the series, and Ryan Condal assures viewers that House of the Dragon won’t let them down. The prequel will follow the Targaryen bloodline beginning with Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), the heir to King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) throne, and his intended Alicent Hightower. The prequel will span decades of escalating tension before the horrific civil conflict known as the Dance of the Dragons (Olivia Cooke). When Princess Rhaenyra’s young stepmother and former closest friend, Alicent, gives birth to a son, the throne’s announced inheritance is put into question, igniting the major battle.
Condal quoted how he handled the prequel with reverence and what viewers may anticipate in the following words:
“We have this huge legacy to carry forward. [And we want to] do that in the best way that honors what came before, but also doesn’t do the thing that I think a lot of sequels do: Here’s [what] you love wrapped up in different packaging.”
Rhaenyra is “pushing at the edges of womanhood” within the context of the larger civil war narrative in a society where women are only expected to learn how to sew and have children. Rhaenyra in D’Arcy’s novel is “obsessed with masculinity” due to the way that men are revered and brought up to be kings. The crown is truly Rhaenyra’s until a baby son is born, and she watches how men are given all of the authority and freedoms that she longs for, according to D’Arcy, who stated in the interview, “She is a person who feels at odds with the way that she is read by the world.”
During the events of House of the Dragon, the nation enjoyed more than 70 years of peace under the leadership of King Viserys, boasting prosperity, luxury, and many more dragons than ever occurred during the Game of Thrones era.
“House of the Dragon is “about the disillusionment of the patriarchy, of this system that has been going and going for hundreds and hundreds of years,” and the disintegration of that system as those in line compete for the throne, according to Eve Best, who plays the shunned Princess RhaenysTargaryen.”
In the trailer for House of Dragons, Princess Rhaenys, Princess Rhaenyra’s aunt, remarks to her niece:
“Men would sooner put the realm to a torch than see a woman ascend the iron throne.”
The first Game of Thrones prequel will manoeuvre through the murky waters of the Targaryen line and the other houses’ insatiable ambition for sovereignty. House of the Dragon will be an epic return to Westeros and its rich past, with familiar families like Baratheon, Stark, and more, including the affluent Velaryons, represented by Rhaenys’ husband Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). Although Condalacknowledges that the show is “standing on the shoulders of giants,” viewers are yearning for more fire and blood.
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