When Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon debuts on HBO Max on August 21, viewers will be reintroduced to the Targaryen family. However, this will be a far-different group of Targaryen’s than the two (technically three) members we saw in Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones fans know Daenerys and Rhaegar Targaryen (we’re leaving out the third member for this discussion), when the family was at their lowest point. “The Mad King” Aerys had been killed by Jaime Lannister, and the Targaryens were hunted down with Rhaegar and Elia being murdered, along with their children Rhaenry and Aegon. So what are the Targaryens like in House of the Dragon?
“They’re at the pinnacle of their power,” Graham McTavish, who plays Ser Harrold Westerling, told GameSpot. “We haven’t seen the Targaryens like this before.” This is much more about the Targaryen family life, ruling from the Iron Throne in King’s Landing.
Taking place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will see King Viserys Targaryen as king of Westeros. “Viserys is different,” Paddy Considine, who plays the king, explains. “He’s certainly not someone that’s driven by or corrupted by power. He’s a very honorable king. He’s fulfilling a prophecy that will come to fruition later on in the story. He’s not the typical Targaryen in the way he’s quick to draw his sword. He’s a peacetime king, and that’s his job.”
While the man in charge is about peace and honor, not everyone surrounding him is the same, as Matt Smith, who plays Prince Daemon Targaryen explains. “He’s sort of an agent of chaos really, but there’s sort of a strange element of peace in him somewhere that he’s searching for but hasn’t quite found. I think, weirdly, chaos brings him peace. He’s after something ‘other.’ I don’t think he knows what it is yet.”
In the video above, you can see more of the cast and co-showrunner Ryan J. Condal discuss the Targaryen in House of the Dragon. As Eve Best, who plays Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, explains, there’s a lot of Targaryens on this show and they’re at the height of their power, much like the Roman Empire, right before it fell.
House of the Dragon airs on HBO and HBO Max on August 21, and new episodes will arrive weekly on Sundays.
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