‘House of the Dragon’: All of the Sets Had to Be Rebuilt From Scratch
Co-created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal, House of the Dragon sets up the story of Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), who has named his only living child, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock as a teen, Emma D’Arcy as an adult), as heir.
When Viserys chooses Rhaenyra over his younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), it sets off a chaotic, bloody, and firey series of events. Though this world exists within the world of Game of Thrones, all of the House of the Dragon sets had to be rebuilt from scratch.
‘House of the Dragon’ is a ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel
Based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood chronicling the Targaryens’ reign, House of the Dragon is set some 200 years before the events of Thrones. The series opens 100 years into that reign, showing life in Westeros 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen and the death of the Mad King.
All of the ‘House of the Dragon’ sets had to be built from scratch
Though Game of Thrones was a massive project that lasted eight seasons, nearly everything on House of the Dragon had to be built from scratch.
“This was season one of a brand new show that didn’t have a stitch of timber,” Condal told Shadow and Act. “Nothing was built; nothing existed. There’s a Red Keep; there’s a throne room. It didn’t matter; we still had to build a new one. I think all those boxes ticked in your mind of, ‘Oh, we don’t have to do that thing because it already exists,’ lull you into a sense of security that simply was not founded. Everything you see on that screen was built brand new for this show. Certainly, we had plans and designs, but all that stuff was up in Belfast, or it didn’t exist anymore because it had been taken down, or it would’ve been folded away, put into storage, or put in the Game of Thrones museum.”
‘House of the Dragon’ will chronicle the Targaryen civil war
The Westeros we saw in Game of Thrones were post-war as the citizens of the Seven Kingdoms were preparing for the long winter. However, House of the Dragon is expected to chronicle how we got there with the Dance of the Dragon, or the Targaryen civil war. As the story goes, Rhaenyra will fight her younger half-brother Aegon II for the throne.
“Here’s the story you’ve always heard about,” creator/co-showrunner Ryan Condal told Shadow and Act. “The Targaryens, at the height of their power with 17 dragons and great wealth and power and influence. They’re unchallengeable. This is that time. So I think it’s a fascinating place to drop in because they’ve just started to turn and decline, but they don’t realize that until it’s too late.”
