Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Game of Thrones' 'House of the Dragon' prequel TV series fires up fresh plot details, expands cast
HBO's upcoming Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, is starting to spread its scaly wings a little more. Today, Variety brought forth some fiery plot details about the series, which focuses on the dragon-riding House Targaryen and its bloody civil war that eventually gained the moniker of "Dance of the Dragons." This occurred a whopping 300 years before the battle for the Iron Throne that we all know and love.
The official synopsis also comes with some fresh casting news that brings Steve Toussaint (Doctor Who), Eve Best (Fate: The Winx Saga), Rhys Ifans (Harry Potter), and Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) into the conflagration that already includes Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, and Matt Smith.
Toussaint is hitting the high seas as Westeros' most famous nautical swashbuckler, Lord Corlys Velaryon. Also known as "The Sea Snake" Corlys "built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world," writes Variety. In addition, House Velaryon is "a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen."
Best is also inhabting the role of royalty as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon. Sometimes referred to as “The Queen Who Never Was," Rhaenys is "a dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon" who "was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male."
Ifans will appear as Otto Hightower, loyal Hand of the King to Considine's King Viserys. "As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon (Smith), and his position as heir to the throne." Otto is also the father of Alicent Hightower (Cooke).
Lastly, Mizuno has been cast as Mysaria, an impoverished slave who eventually became a trusted ally of Prince Daemon.
Showrun by veteran Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik and Colony creator Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon hopes to soar onto HBO sometime next year. The duo are executive producing along with George R. R. Martin, Vince Gerardis, Sara Lee Hess, and Rom Schmidt. Sapochnik is directing the pilot and several more episodes, while Clare Kilner, Geeta V. Patel, and Greg Yaitanes are on board to helm the rest. Yaitanes pulls double duty as a co-executive producer.
House of the Dragon isn't the only Game of Thrones spinoff HBO is cooking up for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire. Just this year, we learned that the premium cable network is developing Tales of Dunk and Egg, a potential animated series targeted at adults, and several other ventures that will keep George R.R. Martin very busy (and very rich) for years to come. If all the reports are to be believed, though, HBO isn't interested in any shows set after or during the events of the flagship series. Moreover, if Jane Goldman's axed pilot taught us anything, it's that not all Westeros-inspired projects are guaranteed full orders.
