House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is the second television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik served as the showrunners for the first season. Based on parts of Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood, the series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Featuring an ensemble cast, the show portrays the events leading up to the decline of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons".
House of the Dragon received a straight-to-series order in October 2019, with casting beginning in July 2020 and principal photography starting in April 2021 in the United Kingdom. The series premiered on August 21, 2022, with the first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was renewed for a second season five days after its premiere. Sapochnik departed as showrunner after the first season, leaving Condal to serve as the sole showrunner for the second season. The second season premiered on June 16, 2024, with eight episodes. In June 2024, ahead of the second-season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season.
The series received positive reviews, with praise for its character development, visual effects, writing, score by Ramin Djawadi, and performances (particularly Considine, Smith, D'Arcy and Cooke). However, the pacing, specifically of the time jumps, and the dark lighting of some scenes during the first season were criticized. The series premiere was watched by over 10 million viewers across the linear channels and HBO Max on the first day, the biggest in HBO's history. For its first season, House of the Dragon won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, while Emma D'Arcy earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama. It earned nine Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, and won three British Academy Television Craft Awards. D'Arcy received another Golden Globe Award nomination for their performance in the second season.
In 2015, with Game of Thrones still in production, HBO executives approached A Song of Ice and Fire writer George R. R. Martin regarding possible successors or spin-offs to the series. In November 2018, Martin stated that a "potential spin-off series would be solidly based on material in Fire & Blood." Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss stated they wanted to "move on" from the franchise and declined involvement in subsequent projects. By September 2019, a Game of Thrones prequel series from Martin and Ryan Condal that "tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen" was close to receiving a pilot order from HBO. The following month, House of the Dragon was given a straight-to-series order. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, who won an Emmy Award for directing the episode "Battle of the Bastards", were selected to serve as showrunners. In 2016, Condal pitched the idea of a series based on Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg, however HBO initially passed on it. Sapochnik was also hired to direct the series premiere as well as additional episodes. The series begins 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, ultimately leading to the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. The project is a reworking of the rejected spin-off concept from Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman, on which HBO officially passed.
Inspiration for the series came from English medieval history and the Anarchy, a war of succession after the death of Henry I of England between his nephew Stephen of Blois and only surviving child, Empress Matilda, who had fled to Normandy in the 12th century. In January 2020, Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming, stated that writing had begun. Writers for the show include Condal and Sara Hess, who previously wrote for Deadwood and Orange Is the New Black. Martin was also involved in the pre-production, providing input on storylines and reviewed scripts and rough cuts. On August 26, 2022, less than a week after its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. On August 31, Miguel Sapochnik stepped down as director and co-showrunner for the second season, but remained an executive producer. Sapochnik stated, "It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally." Alan Taylor, who directed Game of Thrones episodes, joined in season two and serves as an executive producer and director. Following the second season renewal, Bloys stated that it was expected to premiere in 2024. Hess told Variety in late December 2022 that most of season 2 had been written and would include a revenge plot against Alicent following the events of the first-season finale. The second season consists of eight episodes and premiered on June 16, 2024. On his personal blog in December 2023, Martin stated the third and fourth seasons are being written. In June 2024, ahead of the second-season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season. After the second season finished airing in August 2024, Condal said the series is intended to end after the fourth season.
In the novels, members of House Velaryon are generally described as having "silver-gold hair, pale skin, and violet eyes", similar to the Targaryens. However, Condal and Sapochnik wanted to introduce more racial diversity with its casting. Game of Thrones was criticized for lacking a diverse cast and including cultural stereotypes. As a result, House Velaryon are portrayed as black in the television series. According to Condal, Martin, while writing the novels, considered making the Velaryons a house of black aristocrats who traveled to Westeros from the culturally diverse area of Valyria. Despite initial fan criticism of the ethnicity change, publications and commentators stated it helped distinguish between the large number of characters between the two families.
Fire & Blood is written in the style of a history book authored by an in-universe fictional historian studying the Targaryen dynasty and various civil conflicts. The novels of A Song of Ice and Fire, however, are more immersive, with each chapter written in a third-person limited perspective from the immediate point of view of a character. As a result, some accounts of events recorded in Fire & Blood are second-hand narrations that are potentially speculative or distorted, therefore making the narrator unreliable from the reader's perspective. In an effort to make the story more clear for viewers, the show writers decided to portray the book events in chronological order from a third-person perspective.
In 2025, showrunner Ryan Condal discussed creative tensions with author George R. R. Martin, citing disagreements over the adaptation of material from Martin's Fire & Blood. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal described their past collaboration as "mutually fruitful" but noted that differences had developed regarding the show's narrative direction.
The reported friction followed a since-deleted blog post from Martin in September 2023, in which he criticized changes made by Condal and HBO to the source material. Condal stated that he became aware of the post secondhand and expressed disappointment over the situation. He defended creative choices made in the series, including the exclusion of the character Maelor Targaryen from season 2, citing production limitations and the interpretive nature of Fire & Blood, which presents events as historical accounts rather than definitive canon.
Condal acknowledged the difficulty of adapting a complex, expansive narrative within the constraints of television production and expressed hope for a future reconciliation with Martin.
Casting for the first season began in July 2020. In October 2020, Paddy Considine was cast as Viserys I Targaryen. Considine was offered a role in Game of Thrones but declined due to the fantasy elements of the series. Condal in a 2020 interview stated that Considine was their first choice for Viserys. By December, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, and Emma D'Arcy were cast as Alicent Hightower, Daemon Targaryen, and Rhaenyra Targaryen, respectively. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Smith stated he was initially hesitant to star in a Game of Thrones prequel but accepted the role after learning of Considine's attachment to the project.
In February 2021, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Sonoya Mizuno were added to the main cast. By April, Fabien Frankel joined the cast as Ser Criston Cole. In May, Graham McTavish was spotted on set in full wardrobe. In July 2021, Emily Carey and Milly Alcock were added to the cast as younger counterparts of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen, respectively. The time jump midway through the first season prompted the casting of multiple actors for the same role.
In April 2023, Gayle Rankin, Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, and Abubakar Salim were announced to have joined the cast for the second season as Alys Rivers, Ser Simon Strong, Ser Gwayne Hightower and Alyn of Hull, respectively. In December 2023, Tom Taylor, Clinton Liberty, Jamie Kenna, Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, and Vincent Regan were announced to have joined the cast for the second season as Lord Cregan Stark, Addam of Hull, Ser Alfred Broome, Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White and Ser Rickard Thorne, respectively.
In January 2025, James Norton was announced to have joined the cast for the third season as Lord Ormund Hightower. In March 2025, Tommy Flanagan and Dan Fogler were announced to have joined the cast as Ser Roderick Dustin and Ser Torrhen Manderly respectively.
Principal photography on the ten-episode first season of the series began in April 2021. The series was filmed primarily in the United Kingdom. House of the Dragon was the first production to be shot at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios' new virtual production stage. On July 18, 2021, a positive COVID-19 case forced the pausing of production for two days. The Spanish publication Hoy reported that House of the Dragon would be filmed in the Province of Cáceres in western Spain between October 11–21, 2021. The provincial capital of Cáceres along with the medieval town of Trujillo were used in scenes for King's Landing. From October 26–31, the series was filmed in Portugal at the Castle of Monsanto. The majority of season 1 was shot using Arri Alexa cameras; specifically Alexa 65s for the main camera and the Alexa Mini LFs as additional cameras.
Locations in Cornwall, England included St Michael's Mount, Holywell Beach and Kynance Cove. Other locations included Castleton, Derbyshire, in areas such as Cave Dale, Eldon Hill Quarry and the Market Place. Some scenes were shot in Aldershot, Hampshire. In February 2022, HBO confirmed that the first season of House of the Dragon had wrapped production. Visual effects for the series were produced in part by Pixomondo, who worked on Game of Thrones and received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Visual Effects. In October 2022, it was reported that the OSVP stage at Leavesden Studios, used in the series, was shutting down.
The second season began filming on April 11, 2023, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Watford, England, and moved to Cáceres, Spain on May 18, 2023. The series continued filming throughout the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Despite the show originating in the United States, the largely British cast works under local rules governed by the sister union Equity. Filming wrapped by September 29, 2023.
Filming for the third season began on March 21, 2025, at Leavesden Studios, Watford. Filming is expected to last from March to October.
It was announced in February 2021 that Ramin Djawadi would compose the series score. Djawadi composed the music for all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, which garnered him three Grammy Awards nominations and two Emmy Awards wins. Djawadi and the showrunners opted to retain the original theme song, "Game of Thrones Theme", for House of the Dragon. The song debuted in the opening credits of the second episode. In an interview with The A.V. Club, Djawadi stated that the original theme song was used to "tie the shows together". For the first season, Djawadi, along with Condal and Sapochnik, watched each episode and made notes on when the music should occur and what mood the music should set. Character motifs from Game of Thrones are also featured in House of the Dragon, including the Dragon theme "Dracarys".
Game of Thrones linguist David J. Peterson returned to continue his work on the constructed language High Valyrian. Peterson stated that, unlike Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon features scene-long dialogue in High Valyrian. In the series, High Valyrian is spoken by both Targaryens and Velaryons, requiring cast members to learn the language. Emma D'Arcy reportedly enjoyed learning it, while Matt Smith initially dreaded it and found it daunting.
The production budget of the first season of House of the Dragon was nearly $200 million, which equates to an average of just below $20 million per episode. In comparison, its parent series, Game of Thrones, cost around $100 million per season, beginning with nearly $6 million per episode from seasons one to five, around $10 million for every episode in seasons six and seven, and up to $15 million each episode in its eighth and final season, earning $285 million in profits per season over its eight seasons. According to Deadline Hollywood, the marketing budget was over $100 million, comparable to the budget for a blockbuster theatrical film.
House of the Dragon premiered on August 21, 2022. It is HBO's first new series to stream in 4K, Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos on its sister streaming platform HBO Max. The first episode was released for free on YouTube on September 2, 2022. The first-season finale was leaked online the week before the actual air date, with the full episode appearing on torrent sites. According to HBO, the leak came from a Europe, the Middle East and Africa partner and it will "aggressively" monitor for additional leaks. The second season premiered on June 16, 2024. The second-season finale was also leaked online, with HBO releasing a statement stating the leak originated from a "third-party distributor".
In New Zealand, the series is distributed by Sky's SoHo TV channel and Neon streaming service. In the Philippines, SKY broadcasts the show via its main cable television services and other digital streaming platforms. In India, JioCinema distributes the show. In the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the series airs on Sky Atlantic and its accompanying streaming service Now. In Canada, House of the Dragon is available on Bell Media's Crave streaming service and its HBO linear channel. In Australia, the series is available for streaming on Binge and Foxtel.
The first season was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, and DVD on December 20, 2022, and contains over an hour of behind-the-scenes features.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 90%, based on 876 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Covering an era of tenuous peace with ferocious – albeit abbreviated – focus, House of the Dragon is an impressive prequel that exemplifies the court intrigue that distinguished its predecessor." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the first season received a score of 69 out of 100 based on 43 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Reviews for the first season were positive, with critics praising the writing, directing, score, and cast performances. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian called the show a "roaring success" with Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times stating the show mirrors the acclaim of the early seasons of Game of Thrones. Reviews pointed out the reliance on Martin's novel was one of the reasons the series fared better critically than the later seasons of its predecessor, specifically the last season. The cast also received praise, with Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, and Olivia Cooke being singled out for their performances. In an interview with GQ, Considine stated that Martin told him that "Your Viserys is better than my Viserys". The diversity of the characters was mostly met with praise, with Jeff Yang of The New York Times stating that diversification of the cast can help the series gain a more diverse audience. The series was included on multiple critics' top ten lists of 2022, including Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, and Polygon.
The show's first season received criticism for the depiction of violence, pacing and cinematography. Reviewing the early episodes, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly said the series leaned too much on grand imagery and lacked the breakout supporting characters that Game of Thrones had. Before the premiere, Martin stated that the series is similar to a Shakespearean tragedy with each character being morally grey with no "character everybody's going to love". The Guardian stated the "dullness" of the characters makes the series more of a period drama than an action-adventure fantasy. The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times cited the constant actor changes as a reason for the lack of emotional attachment to characters. The graphic violence in the season premiere with a failed caesarean section was criticized for being excessive, and according to USA Today, "exploitive and in poor taste". The time jumps throughout the first season were also noted for being jarring and causing confusion, while Martin defended them as being "handled very well". In addition, the dark cinematography in episode seven was a point of criticism from both critics and fans. HBO responded that the dimmed lighting in those scenes was an "intentional creative decision". Game of Thrones faced similar criticism regarding the lighting of scenes in its eighth season, with one of the show's cinematographers stating it was a "deliberate choice". In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter before the second season premiere, Ryan Condal said that the lighting for the upcoming season would be changed after listening to the feedback from the previous season.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 83%, based on 272 reviews, with an average rating of 7.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Approaching its dynastic cataclysm with a deliberate stride rather than a charging gallop, House of the Dragon carefully sets up its emotional stakes to make the fiery spectacle all the more scorching." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 73 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The day after the series premiere, HBO said the episode had been viewed by an estimated 9.99 million viewers in the U.S. on its first night of availability – including linear viewers and streams on HBO Max – which it said was the largest single-day viewership for a series debut in the service's history, dethroning Euphoria. After one week of availability, the viewership rose to nearly 25 million in the U.S. across all platforms. Nielsen estimated that the episode was watched by 10.6 million viewers on HBO Max in the first four days, with the number increasing to 14.5 million when including the viewership on the main HBO channel. Samba TV meanwhile stated that 4.8 million U.S. households streamed the episode in the first four days. The series was also popular on social media, with the show premiere being the number one trending topic on Twitter and Google Trends.
The finale of the first season was watched by 9.3 million viewers across all platforms during its premiere night according to HBO, which was the highest viewership for any finale of a HBO show since the series finale of Game of Thrones. The show averaged 9–9.5 million viewers for an episode on premiere night and 29 million total viewers after a week of release.
Nielsen stated in November 2022 that 35% of the viewers of the show were in the age range of 18–34. Similar to Game of Thrones, the first season of House of the Dragon was extensively pirated. According to TorrentFreak, it was the most pirated series of 2022, ahead of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and other series.
Season 2 had a debut of 7.8 million viewers across linear and streaming on its Sunday night premiere, which was a 22% viewership decline from the previous season which had 10 million. In Latin America, viewership was up 30% from season 1. According to Samba TV, viewership for its initial airing of the premiere was watched by 1.3 million U.S. households, compared to 2.6 million for season 1. The series garnered its highest streaming viewership for a particular week during the week of June 17–23, 2024, according to Nielsen, garnering a viewership of 1.23 billion minutes. The viewership of the season steadily increased as further episodes were released, reaching a season-high of 8.9 million viewers across linear and streaming with the final episode. The finale also marked the highest streaming viewership for any episode of the show according to HBO.
Critics, fans, and publications have drawn comparisons between House of the Dragon and fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video. The Rings of Power is a prequel series set thousands of years before the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, while House of the Dragon is a prequel series set hundreds of years before Game of Thrones. The similar fantasy genre, close release dates, and extensive fan bases were cited in articles comparing the two series. Commentators and fans alike have described these comparisons as the "biggest battle in TV history". More negative criticism from the two fan bases also included the character diversity, with some publications describing some of the criticism as racist. Martin stated that although he hopes both shows are successful, he wants to see House of the Dragon "succeed more." Lindsey Weber, an executive producer for The Rings of Power, stated that the head-to-head conflict between the two shows are "totally manufactured by the media for headlines". Show co-creator J. D. Payne said the only competition he sees is with "themselves"; however, he wishes well for "anyone else working on storytelling".
Financially, the budget for The Rings of Power is almost $450 million more than House of the Dragon. Both series fared successfully in the ratings. According to Nielsen and first-party data, The Rings of Power's first two episodes had more than 1.25 billion streaming minutes after three days of availability. In comparison, a few hours after the episode two premiere of House of the Dragon, the show had reached more than 1.06 billion streaming minutes. Following the season finale for House of the Dragon, weekly streaming viewership passed 1 billion viewing minutes for the first time. According to Nielsen data, The Rings of Power has a higher percentage of older viewers, with more than 70% of viewers being over the age of 35. In any given week, The Rings of Power tended to have more streams than House of the Dragon given that the viewership of House of the Dragon was split between those watching online and those watching on HBO channel while that of The Rings of Power was online only. However, following both series debuts, streaming viewership for The Rings of Power decreased over the first season, while House of the Dragon viewership increased. The viewership of individual episodes of House of the Dragon also tended to increase over a number of weeks after the episodes became available while that of The Rings of Power dropped sharply after the first two weeks. Despite the age gap in viewership, commentators have stated one of the reasons both shows did well was the consistent release schedule that helped create social-media buzz. Both shows have highlighted the "streaming wars" between both Amazon and HBO and the entertainment industry as a whole.
House of the Dragon received nine Primetime Emmy Awards nominations in 2023, including Outstanding Drama Series, winning one for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes. The series won the Golden Globe Award Best Television Series – Drama in 2023, while Emma D'Arcy earned two Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama nominations in 2023 and 2025. Other nominations include three Critics' Choice Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.