HBO is readying its Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon. Set some 200 years before the story we know, the show is all about the Dance of the Dragons, a brutal civil war fought between different factions of the Targaryen dynasty. We’re talking brother fighting sister and dragon fighting dragon; it should be good.
But even though filming is over, we still don’t know when House of the Dragon will premiere. The most specific thing we’re gotten is probably Fire & Blood author George R.R. Martin saying that we’ll learn the release date “soon.” And if that’s what passes for specific, you know you don’t have much to work with.
That said, there are a lot of clues piling up that point to a potential release date. Namely, there are a lot of tie-in books coming out later this year. A new edition of Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based, comes out on July 12. A new calendar with artwork inspired by Fire & Blood is coming out on July 19. Meanwhile, yet another new edition of Fire & Blood called The Rise of the Dragon will be out in October.
So the show will probably premiere sometime between July and October. Let’s look at the latest bit of evidence and see if we can’t narrow things down.
Let’s figure out the House of the Dragon premiere date
According to the website for publisher Simon & Schuster, we’ll be getting yet another House of the Dragon-themed book in on November 8, 2022: The Making of HBO’s House of the Dragon, which is what is sounds like.
These kinds of making-of books — which often include behind-the-scenes photos and interviews with crew members — usually release at least a month after the latest season of a show has ended. As the sleuths on Reddit pointed out, an Inside Game of Thrones book came out three months after the finale of season 2; another came out five months after the season 4 finale; and a Game of Thrones: The Storyboards book came out a month after the series finale in 2019.
The first season of House of the Dragon has 10 episodes. In order for it to finish before this new Making Of book comes out, the show would have to premiere at the latest on Sunday, September 4, assuming that the show will follow the lead of Game of Thrones and air new episodes on Sundays. And HBO may want to put more space between the end of the show and the publishing of the book.
So do we know the release date for House of the Dragon yet? Unfortunately, still no. But the clues are piling up. Personally, I think a premiere date in August is looking likely.
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