New 'House of the Dragon' Trailer Is Promising

On Thursday, HBO released an extended look at House of the Dragon, the upcoming prequel series to Game of Thrones.

 

Dragon, set 200 years before the events of Thrones, tells the tale of a Targaryen civil war. It is based on the events in George R. R. Martin’s novella Fire & Blood.

The series will differ from the original because it will focus primarily on just House  Targaryen, while House Stark and House Baratheon might only appear in passing.

Targaryen characters include King Viserys (portrayed by Paddy Considine), Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) -- some of the most important ancestors of Daenerys and Jon.

The positive is that all of the source material is published. Thrones didn't go off the tracks until the television series outpaced A Song of Ice and Fire, the novel series on which Thrones is based. Martin has still not finished ASOIAF, we might add. He still has two books to go.

For a hint of what's to come, Miguel Sapochnik will co-show-run the series with Ryan Condal. HBO turned to Sapochnik to direct the most notable episodes of Thrones: “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards,” “The Winds of Winter,” “The Long Night,” and “The Bells.”

Because it has a smaller world and cast of characters than Thrones, Dragon can probably go only three seasons.

So this all sounds exciting. Except for one issue, House of the Dragon debuts on August 21 for a 10-episode run. This means most of the series will go head-to-head with Sunday Night Football.

Thrones is the last show of the streaming era that we watched together live, not later in the week. We reacted and covered the show like a sporting event. And competing directly with the NFL will take much of that away.

You have all summer, HBO. Why make us wait so long for the dragons?