First video from the set of House of the Dragon leaks

Just the other day, HBO officially confirmed that production had begun on House of the Dragon, the network’s follow-up to Game of Thrones. Set over 100 years before the original show, House of the Dragon tells the story of a Targaryen civil war that tore the realm apart. The network even released an official image of the cast table read to mark the occasion:

So that’s the official image from behind the scenes. But as anyone who was here when Game of Thrones was getting made knows, GoT fans are fond of snapping their own behind-the-scenes pics as well, and it didn’t take long for a Redditor to post a video recorded at Holywell Beach in Cornwall, near where the crew has built a set that’s standing in for Driftmark, the home base of the powerful House Velaryon.

I’m not going to embed the video in this post directly, because we don’t need that kind of heat, but you can watch it here. And you can see more detailed, up-close photos here. There’s a film crew on a beach, and two actors dressed as Targaryens. They both have that family’s distinctive white-blonde hair. The man is wearing a black doublet and the woman a long, flowing, two-toned red dress (black and red are the Targaryen colors).

Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy step out as Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen

This is Matt Smith and Emma D’ Arcy as Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen, two key figures from the story. As to what scene they’re filming, it’s anybody’s guess. As they’re on a beach, I’m guessing the scene takes place on Dragonstone, which becomes a sort of home base for Rhaenyra both before and after the war starts up. She’s one of two main claimants vying for the Iron Throne after the death of her father King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). The other is her half-brother Aegon Targaryen; we don’t know who’s playing Aegon yet, or even if he’s been cast.

Rhaenyra is ambitious, beautiful and intelligent. Daemon is the king’s brother and her uncle, and is violent and passionate. In the grand tradition of weird family relationship in the Game of Thrones universe, they have an affair; as we’ll learn on this show, no one does incest like the Targaryens in their prime.

There’s no exact release date for House of the Dragon yet, but expect it on HBO in 2022.

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