Casting Begins for HBO's "House of the Dragon" Series

By: Keaton Marcus

After ordering the series last October, HBO’s House of the Dragon has not had much news, but the streaming service has finally begun its casting process to the Game of Thrones prequel.

The series is supposed to be based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood novel, which, of course, is based off of the GOT books. Game of Thrones ended last year with a controversial eighth season, which scored mixed reviews from critics and nearly all-around disappointment with the fans. To be exact, on Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a 55% critics rating and a mere 31% audience score and despite starting strong, the the last few episodes were heavily criticized.

The book itself is about the House of Targaryen, but it’s set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones, so don’t expect to see Daenerys show up. The series is supposed to cover 100 years of Targaryen history, and sees many leaders rise and fall within it. Entertainment Weekly even explained that the famous Dance of the Dragons, which was a civil war between the Targaryens, will be apart of it.

The show runners will be Ryan Condal, who is known for writing the TV series Colony and 2018’s Rampage, and Miguel Sapochnik who has directed several Game of Thrones episodes. Sapochnik will helm the pilot and an unspecified amount of episodes after. In total, HBO has ordered 10 episodes for the first season.

It’s expected to premiere sometime in 2022, and the fanbase’s anticipation is high for this hail mary to save the brand. Another prequel starring Naomi Watts was also in development, but that was cancelled later.