Fans are days away from going back to Westeros with HBO’s House of Dragon. This time the battle for Iron Throne rages within the Targaryen dynasty. The stakes and power politics remain the same while the players have changed in the spin-off series by showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. Inspired by George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood the series tells the tale of the decline of the dragon-riders and how the dynasty came to civil war over questions of succession leading to the events of Dance of Dragons. Initial reactions to the show call it a “worthy successor” to Game of Thrones, and in his recent blog post, Martin reveals that he’s seen all episodes and has dubbed it “magnificent work.”
Condal and Game of Thrones vet, Sapochnik, worked closely with Martin to bring fans back to the fantasy world; Sapochnik is also responsible for directing the renowned "Battle of the Bastards" episode. Martin revealed that he’s seen rough cuts of “all the episodes” of House of Dragon, and he is pleased with what he has seen. He wrote, "Ryan and Miguel and their amazing cast and crew have done some magnificent work.”
The series is set two hundred years before the events of the Game of Thrones. Along with House Targaryen fans will also meet The Velaroyns and the Hightowers. The illustrious cast features Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys, and Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower as the main players during the upcoming season. Martin shared,
Hot D is all I hoped it would be; dark, powerful, visceral, disturbing, stunning to look at, peopled with complex and very human characters brought to life by some truly amazing actors.
The author, after his recent visit to San Diego Comic-con, contracted Covid and is currently in quarantine. He further updated fans on the blog about the other animated and live-action spin-offs he's developing for HBO and HBO Max, writing, “Development is a long and chancy process, of course, and there’s no telling how many series will be green lit in the end… I am really excited about the way some of them are coming along, though.”
House of Dragon debuts on August 21. Meanwhile, check out the official featurette where Martin explains the history and lore of the series below: