Let’s break down the House of the Dragon season trailer
By Daniel Roman
It’s really here! After years of speculation and hype, we’ve all finally seen the premiere of House of the Dragon, HBO’s first successor show to Game of Thrones. War is afoot, and a battle for succession looms as King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) breaks with Westerosi tradition to name his daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) heir to the Iron Throne.
The series premiere, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” started things off right, giving us plenty of dragons, jousting, politicking, and bloody twists. But it’s only a drop in the sea compared to what HBO has planned for the rest of the season. Once the first episode of House of the Dragon ended, the network dropped a trailer to tease what lies ahead in the rest of the season, and it looks epic:
House of the Dragon Weeks Ahead Trailer breakdown
The trailer begins with a sweeping wide shot of the dragon Syrax swooping down over the bridge at Dragonstone. You can just make out Rhaenyra Targaryen on the dragon’s back.
There appear to be two groups of people on the bridge. Could this be that stand-off scene with Daemon (Matt Smith) and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) over the dragon egg that we see later in the trailer?
From there, we skim through a few fast shots: an overheard of servants walking with lanterns (you can tell because of the handmaids’ distinctive outfits, which we saw in Episode 1), a distant shot of someone climbing down into a rocky chasm, and Viserys holding hands with young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). Then there’s this intriguing scene:
Someone in plain peasant’s clothing walking by the skull of Balerion the Black Dread in the Red Keep. This doesn’t look like a servant or peasant to me. Could it be Rhaenyra in disguise, maybe sneaking out of the castle? Or another character under the employ of some politician or other?
While these scenes play, Rhaenyra says “From my blood come the Prince that was Promised, and his will be the song of ice and fire.” It’s not clear where she’s getting these words; she appears to be reading something. The season premiere gave fans of a huge twist when it introduced the idea that Aegon the Conqueror had a prophetic dream about the coming of the White Walkers, which we saw in Game of Thrones. It appears House of the Dragon will run with that.
Then there’s this brief shot, which appears to be of a masked man standing at the mouth of a cave.
We get a better look at his masked face later in the trailer. Any guesses as to who this guy is?
From there, we’re off to a castle. Harrenhal, judging by the dilapidated towers.
Corlys Velaryon is looking unimpressed below. We didn’t spend a ton of time with Steve Toussaint’s Sea Snake in the premiere, but he’s a major player in the Dance of the Dragons, so expect to see a lot more of him. Those are some nicely manicured hedges around him as well; the gardens of King’s Landing, perhaps?
Another close-up shot, this one of Larys “Clubfoot” Strong (Matthew Needham). We won’t meet Larys for quite a while yet, but he’s already giving off some pretty sneaky vibes.
Next, Caraxes rocks Rhaenyra’s boat. Now that we’ve gotten a better look at Daemon Targaryen’s dragon, its distinctive body type is more recognizable; note the fanned fins halfway down the tail, almost reminiscent of a shark.
Next up, Viserys reiterates the dangers of rule:
