Milly Alcock as young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House Of The DragonScreenshot: HBO Max
Can you hear that in the distance? A soft flapping of wings? If so, it’s probably because the world of Game Of Thrones is back, baby (or you’re about to be roasted by an impressively rendered dragon, but we sincerely hope it’s the former). The first official trailer of House Of The Dragon, HBO’s Targaryen-centric prequel series, was released today, and we have some thoughts. (That was just a teaser trailer that came out in May, in case you were thinking, “Wait, didn’t that already happen?”) We’ll be wrapping up the show weekly once it premieres on August 21. But in the meantime, here are some early takeaways from our first trip to King’s Landing since that fateful day in 2019.
1. It’s surprisingly nice to be back in Westeros
If your first reaction to the GOT prequel announcement was huh? and then I just don’t care, we can’t say we blame you. For the rest of us, though, it feels surprisingly good to be back. While we all know that nobody has a better story than Bran the Broken (sigh), it’s actually quite nice to visit this world with an all-new cast of characters that a given showrunning duo won’t get a chance to meet dingy hands on. The budget is huge (seriously, the kites look amazing). And the battles are as muddy as ever. We are at home.
House of the Dragon | Official Trailer | HBO Max
2. Ramin Djawadi returns with a well-known trick
Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi is back too – and he’s apparently bringing a bit of Westworld with him. Reminiscent of the thematic instrumental covers he became known for on his second HBO appearance, this trailer features Djawadi’s orchestral cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs.” It’s an obvious choice as the mashup literally features beautiful women wearing furs. In this sense:
3. The dialogue is very on the nose
One character says, “Knives will come out,” and in the next shot, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) is threatened with a knife. Another character announces “The war is on” over a shot of two factions engaging in battle. Voiceover reminds us “Your family has dragons” over footage of a burnt field. While this gives us a pause, it’s just a trailer. And George RR Martin praised the writers, saying they “made good decisions [and] even some “improvements” to its original story. For now we just have to believe him.
4. Everyone is so blonde
So the wigs don’t look so much like bad GOT cosplay as everyone thought when the original promo shots were released. But Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) still looks the part Phoebe Bridgers, as others have pointed out.
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