We come here today with some precious new House of the Dragon footage for you. It’s not quite a trailer, but close enough! HBO has released a few short TV spots focused on Princess Rhaenyra, Prince Daemon, and the dragons.
Before we continue, I must warn that the TV spots themselves contain spoilers, though they may not mean much if you are not acquainted with the story. My description of each spot, however, may be too spoilery for the Unsullied.
A new reign begins. Stream House of the Dragon August 21 on HBO Max.
— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) August 8, 2022
The dragon TV spot, officially released on the House of the Dragon Twitter account, shows us a young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) petting Syrax as King Viserys (Paddy Considine) asks his daughter what she sees then she looks at the dragons; Rhaenyra sees the Targaryens themselves. Finally, over Daemon’s now famous “Dreams didn’t make us kings; dragons did” from the first teaser trailer, we see a few also familiar images from previous trailer.
Although not yet released online, a few TV watchers have recorded the other TV spots.
#HouseOfTheDragon New promo released while watching #BetterCallSaul tonight! Going to be one epic season! @TheEmilyCarey pic.twitter.com/seTFliz7Dl
— Brendon Smith🏳️🌈 12 days till #HouseOfTheDragon (@bigdogXVI) August 9, 2022
The first one, helpfully provided by Brendon Smith, focuses on Rhaenyra. We see the young princess being appointed her father’s heir at the Red Keep. Then, in the serpentine stairs of Dragonstone, we see an adult Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy, surrounded by her family: her husband Laenor Velaryon, played by John Macmillan, who’s holding their baby Joffrey; and young Jacaerys and Lucerys, played by Leo Hart and Harvey Sadler respectively (Harry Collett and Elliot Grihault play the older Jace and Luke later in the season, just as Theo Nate plays a younger Laenor earlier in the season.) Also, behind the family to the left, there is someone in their service that I believe to be Elinda Massey, Rhaenyra’s lady-in-waiting, who is played by Jordon Stevens. There are others still, but I can’t quite make them out.
Then, Rhaenyra says she “won’t be a tyrant; rule through terror,” and we see new shots of her and Alicent shooting daggers at each other (with their eyes, it must be clarified; this is Westeros, after all.) Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) says, perhaps to his daughter Alicent: “You see her for what she is,” as we see Otto protected by Ser Harrold Westerling (Graham MacTavish) and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) of the Kingsguard, during the stand-off with Daemon on Dragonstone we’ve seen in several trailers. They, alongside Grand Maester Mellos (David Horovitch), cower when Rhaenyra flies over them on Syrax. Next up, King Viserys, and a young Rhaenyra and Laenor, sideye Alicent as she passes the frame (probably during the wedding of Rhaenyra to Laenor.) Finally, we get a lot of quick shots of violence, some of them new or extended: an older Laenor and Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) fight with swords; Daemon strikes someone with the dragon-helmet in his hand; Ser Criston strikes Daemon with his morningstar at a tourney; and a shockingly blood-soaked young Rhaenyra repeatedly strikes at (or stabs) something (or someone) out of frame.
New promo#HouseoftheDragon pic.twitter.com/7y4lEy6MMH
— Aegon II Targaryen (@aegondsecond) August 8, 2022
The Daemon-focused promo, shared by someone going by Aegon II Targaryen (which is either appropriate or heretical, I suppose), has the Rogue Prince seething as he says “We will restore the House of the Dragon to its proper glory.” Title drop! In terms of new footage, we see a young Alicent blowing out a candle; Daemon swinging a sword; new shots of a tourney in King’s Landing, with the Red Keep far in the background; and a triumphant Daemon basking in the glory and the crowd loving it.
These are three very short TV spots, but there’s a lot of new footage there, albeit in quick shots only. Did you see something that jumped at you? If any of you want to refrain from seeing any more trailers and promos, I won’t blame you; the barrage of promotional material will only get worse as the premiere approaches, and I’m sure many in the community want to remain as unsullied as possible. Obviously, I’m one of those people.
