Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen: The younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man. Here is HBO’s description of these characters:Įmma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen: The king’s first-born child, she is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider.
Game of thrones house of the dragon series#
House of the Dragon can and must do better, but the more problematic aspects of the original series can’t ever be erased.And in a third photo, we see Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon. Comments by female members of the cast have also given fans pause for thought in 2019, Emilia Clarke claimed she was pressured into performing nude scenes, while earlier this year, Hannah Waddingham said she was waterboarded for 10 hours while filming a torture scene. These were dialled down as the series went on, but shocking, extreme violence was always in Thrones’ fibre, and, you’d have to say, a significant part of its core appeal. Over the course of its run and since, the show faced increased scrutiny over its treatment of women, and its harrowing, gratuitous scenes of sexual violence. The multivarious problems of Thrones’ final season – arbitrary plot twists, frustrating character arcs, lighting that all but obscured entire battles – aren’t the only reason Thrones’ stock has dropped off since the finale. Game of Thrones prequel The House of the Dragon releases first trailer Thrones’ showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss are absent from the spin-off, with the job instead handed to Ryan Condal, the co-creator of Colony and a credited writer on the execrable Dwayne Johnson thriller Rampage. The House of the Dragon cast may all be terrific, but there’s not a household name among them, save perhaps for Matt Smith, whose own Hollywood career has failed to ignite since he found fame in Doctor Who nearly a decade ago. It’s worth remembering that Thrones was marketed, in its first season, with the presence of Sean Bean. Alongside Thrones’ cadre of hammy veteran thesps, there were less-proven actors of breakout star quality the ascendant Hollywood profile of actors such as Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington is testament to this. We mustn’t underestimate the draw of the characters – none of whom will feature in House of the Dragon – and the performances. But this was only ever one part of the original series’ appeal. The main selling point of House of the Dragon, and indeed the other touted spin-offs, has always been Game of Thrones’ world – the indulgent fantasy lore of Martin’s books. Can the public really stomach another few rounds of George RR Martinis? Maybe, just maybe, we’ve already had enough. But while the prospect of more Thrones seems like the surest of bets – like betting on Nadal to win the French Open or Spurs to lose a cup final – there is still a lingering doubt. But no, this trailer assures that this is the same Thrones you knew and loved, right down to the spiky seat itself. Or perhaps a family sitcom centring on a quick-tempered matriarch. With a name like House of the Dragon, audiences might mistake it for an off-brand investment series fronted by Theo Paphitis. Set 200 years before the events of Thrones, the series features an ensemble cast that includes Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy. More being more was what won them their kingdom.Įarlier this week, the first teaser trailer dropped for House of the Dragon, the earliest of the planned spin-offs coming to HBO Max. You couldn’t exactly sidle up to the creators and wisely inform them that sometimes less is more. So when, in 2017, two years before the series would finish airing, it was announced that a number of spin-offs were in development, it seemed almost inevitable. Fans marvelled at the vast battlefields, the CGI dragons every dollar of its budget (a whopping $15m per episode by the series’ end) was up there on screen.
Game of thrones house of the dragon tv#
HBO’s hit fantasy series was eight seasons of pure bombast – perhaps the first TV show with a scale to rival Hollywood’s great epics. Restraint was never exactly a word that was in Game of Thrones’ vocabulary.