Game of Thrones is one of the most successful TV shows in the last decade. The original HBO series attracted a large crowd, and after the last season, fans wanted more GOT content. In fact the series broke HBO’s streaming record with 17.4 million fans turning in. The TV show has eight seasons with a wide cast full of brilliant actors such as Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), among others. It is true that every season the cast would change, yet these actors are the main characters of the season. It has been three years since the show ended (2019), but HBO dropped a new Game of Thrones series titled House of the Dragon which ended its first season this week, yet the last episode got leaked so it was not the best way to end the series.
House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Tells the story of the Targaryen civil war with king Viserys I Targaryen’s children battling for control of the Iron Throne. House of the Dragon is based on the book Fire & Blood written by George R. R. Martin, and the series is also written by the same author alongside Ryan Condal, Sara Hess and Charmanie DeGraté. The prequel reached a total of 30 million people watching each episode, that is the impact that Game of Thrones has left in the industry. This digit proves that the show by HBO is a hit.
Each episode is a time jump of several years, this makes the story go advance periodically. The series counts with ten episodes where the story would get even better every time an episode was aired, HBO used to drop one episode every sunday (in Europe every monday due to the time zone). Although there was a problem with the season finale because the episode leaked before HBO releasing. Apparently the last episode titled “The Black Queen” was posted illegally on torrents sites, so many fans watched the episode before its release by downloading it on illegal websites.
The cast of House of the Dragon is formed by Ryhs Ifans (Ser Otto Hightower), Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole), Graham McTavish (Ser Harrold Westerling), Paddy Considine (King Viserys I Targaryen), Bill Paterson (Lord Lyman Beesbury), Eve Best (Princess Rhaenys Targaryen) and so forth. It is important to mention that not all characters appear in all episodes. Since its finale was recent, there is no information about new actors joining the cast.
A second season was announced since ten episodes will not be enough to tell the Targaryen civil war. If we go back to episode 9, it ends with the “illegal” coronation of Aegon II (king Viserys I Targaryen’s son) and episode ten (season finale) begins with Princess Rhaenys, who was confined at the Kingslanding Castle when Aegon was crowned, but manages to escape with her dragon to warn Rhaenyra that her father is dead and her younger brother has been crowned in the presence of the Kingslanding citizens (which is important because it legitimizes the coronation).
The episode ends with two clans formed on one hand, the greens led by queen Alicent Hightower (wife of the deceased king) and her father Otto Hightower (who in his day was right hand of the King and who has always longed for the throne in his bloodline and would do anything to keep the customs). On the other hand, the king’s children: Aegon II, Aemond and Healena (she is also Aegon’s wife, they had two children). This is when the Dance of the Dragons starts, it is a powerful ending and fans are already craving for season 2.
Andrea Rich
