When exactly will the Game of Thrones Targaryen prequel show release? In October 2019, HBO cancelled The Long Night prequel, but ordered a new series, House of the Dragon, the same day. Although fans of the franchise now have some clarity for the future, the question remains: when will House of the Dragon‘s premiere date be?
The Targaryen prequel will take place 300 years before the events depicted in Game of Thrones, and will reportedly explore the Dance of Dragons civil war. As with the original Game of Thrones series, casual HBO viewers won’t necessarily have to know everything about House Targaryen before watching the sequel, but some familiarity with the original George R. R. Martin novel series and television adaption will certainly help. In the original HBO series, created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, various character arcs showed how major players could easily shift from hero to villain, and vice versa. This concept is further reinforced by the storyline for the hero-turned-villain Daenerys Targaryen, one of Game of Thrones’ most controversial figures. Such themes will most likely be at the center of the spin-off series.
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House of the Dragon will most likely premiere in the spring of 2021. Whereas Jane Goldman’s The Long Night series had filmed a pilot before being cancelled, the Targaryen prequel series is in the early stages of development. As of now, a main cast hasn’t been announced, and it’s still unclear who will adapt Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood, the prequel’s primary source material. Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal have been announced as showrunners, with the former having previously directed numerous iconic Game of Thrones episodes, most notably “Hardhome,” ”Battle of the Bastards,” and “The Long Night.” If HBO follows Game of Thrones’ release structure, House of the Dragon will probably debut in April 2021.
Because Martin’s franchise is so popular, the stakes are indeed high for House of the Dragon. The original Game of Thrones pilot was infamously re-cast and re-shot before transforming into a pop culture sensation, and Goldman’s failed pilot for The Long Night serves as even more evidence that new franchise installments require time and patience. Given all the inevitable issues that will arise from casting, filming, writing, and post production, a 2021 premiere date for House of the Dragon seems the most likely, at least if everything goes mostly as planned.
Moving forward, there will be plenty of speculation about what questions House of the Dragon will address. The Targaryens are known for their influence within Westeros — but more specifically, they’re known for their dragons, their tempers, and — to be quite frank — their well-documented incest. All of those topics will undoubtedly be part of the prequel’s main storyline, and will serve as the foundation for larger thematic explorations associated with Westerosian history and culture.
