Thoughts on First Trailer For Game of Thrones' Prequel House of the Dragon

Monday, HBO released its first trailer and footage of House of the Dragon, the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series.

The teaser showed fans a glimpse of Dragon's Targaryen characters, distinguished by their long, gold-ish white hair. Viewers will also recognize the Iron Throne, which looks the same as it did in Thrones.

Notably, readers of George RR Martin's novels will notice that tagline, "200 years before the fall of the Throne," referring to the time between the start of House of the Dragon and the final episode of Game of Thrones. While HBO had previously written that Dragon is set 300 years before the events of Thrones, book readers pushed back at that time frame. Dragon is based on Martin's Fire & Blood novel, set close to 200 years before the start of the original book series. It appears HBO has fixed its mistake.

House of the Dragon will focus on the early stages of the Targaryen dynasty with characters such as King Viserys Targaryen (played by Paddy Considine), who rules Westeros at the time; Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). Oh, and a whole lot of dragons.

Despite Game of Thrones' divisive ending, I expect House of the Dragon to become the country's most popular series. The TV and streaming industry has not found a replacement for Thrones in terms of reach. The top shows now -- Succession, Better Call Saul, The Witcher -- do not have near the influence that Thrones did. 

Even if Dragon doesn't match Thrones' heights and won't, it should inherit a substantial audience. And best of all, the showrunners who ruined Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, are not involved in the prequel series.

HBO says House of the Dragon will debut sometime in 2022.