Last week, amidst a slew of new trailers for all different kinds of upcoming shows and movies, HBO unveiled the trailer for their upcoming and highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon. Like any good trailer should, it shows just enough to keep people interested while at the same time leaving mysteries as to which direction the show will ultimately take before debuting in August of this year.

However, everything shown in the trailer is worthy of discussion and deeper analysis, as there is a lot to unpack in the one and a half minutes. Not the least of which are all the familiar locations, names, and actual dragons that the trailer shows.

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The trailer opens with a soothing chorus while an ominous voice talks about, what they believe, at least, is the meaning of a “brief, mortal life.” From there, the trailer transitions to a familiar scene of King’s Landing as a dragon flies overhead. Inside, the Lords of houses Stark, Velaryon, and Baratheon swear to be loyal and faithful to King Viserys (a very familiar name to those who remember Game of Thrones season one) of house Targaryen and his newly appointed heir, Princess Rhaenyra of house Targaryen.

From there, the trailer begins to hit some familiar beats that fans of Game of Thrones will recognize as an older woman tells Princess Rhaenyra that “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the iron throne.” As that happens, the trailer cuts between many scenes of both new and familiar locations to fans of Game of Thrones while characters speak of “the game.” Others fight each other and interact with what can only be dragons. The last shot of the trailer shows Prince Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith of Doctor Who fame) discovering a dragon in a cave before it breathes fire in his direction. As its name would suggest, this show is not shy about showing off dragons.

When Does House of the Dragon Take Place?

     HBO

The first thing that fans of Game of Thrones will notice as the trailer begins is a complete lack of any recognizable characters. Sure some names are familiar, but real-life history has shown that all people, not just those descended from nobility, like to recycle the names of family members down their line, so names do not mean much here. Even some of the oldest known characters in Game of Thrones, such as Aemon Targaryen (the maester at Castle Black), are nowhere to be seen. While it was always known that House of the Dragon would be a prequel to Game of Thrones, most were unaware of exactly how far back House of the Dragon would go.

The presence of actual adult dragons also serves as an indicator of this, as it had been confirmed in Game of Thrones that the last dragon supposedly died long before King Robert Baratheon’s rebellion that happened prior to season one. With all of this in front of us, it is easy to assume that whenever House of the Dragon takes place, there are multiple, not just a few, generations between it and Game of Thrones.

However, something else that is worth noting is that the trailer shows King Viserys naming his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, as his named heir should anything happen to him. Fans of Game of Thrones who know the history of the setting will tell you that a woman has never ascended the iron throne throughout its many years of history. If one had, then no doubt Cersei Lannister would have been much less hesitant to take it for herself in the multiple opportunities she had. So knowing that a woman never ascended the iron throne, it will be interesting to see what exactly happens to her.

Given the body count of Game of Thrones, however, it is not exactly hard to predict her eventual fate. The only remaining question is how it happens.

The Presence of Actual Dragons

As stated above, the presence of actual dragons in House of the Dragon also serves as an indicator of when in the timeline of the Game of Thrones setting the show takes place. According to the known history of House Targaryen, their bravest warriors used to ride dragons into battle and even raise dragons as their own, not unlike Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. However, as time went on, not only were more and more dragons killed, but dragons actually became smaller. By the time of the last dragon’s death, the few remaining were supposedly no bigger than the average dog.

In House of the Dragon, however, not only are dragons big, but they appear to be plentiful as well, with multiple adult dragons and even dragon eggs being shown throughout the trailer. Depending on when exactly House of the Dragon decides to end, it could be very likely that multiple generations will pass over the course of the show and that fans may get to see the death of the last dragon long before any hints of King Robert Baratheon’s rebellion or any familiar characters are shown.