The House of the Dragon: the keys to the Game of Thrones prequel

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First of all: Of course this is a spoiler-free article.

At last it will be possible to enter that imaginary universe that we have been waiting for three years.

To enjoy again.

And a little

.

The series that made us count the days to press

and watch a new episode will now boast a prequel that, from what we have seen so far, does not have much to envy its predecessor.

The common denominator: the dispute over the Iron Throne and that of...

What will we find?

Fire and Blood

, the fictional novel on which the new series about the Westeros universe is based, explores the secrets of the dragons on which the current saga is built.

The heart

and the internal war that mounts between the Targaryens.

We will find ourselves, above all, more before a political plot than a fantastic one (Syrax did not like this phrase).

The story intersects with some familiar elements from

.

The violence, the royal houses, the epic battles and the enormous pleasure of controlling the Seven Kingdoms create a narrative thread that will make us feel at home.

And never better said.

Other similarities such as the music, some scenarios and the plans that they handle in

make us teleport to the King's Landing that we already knew.

.

Seventeen.

With different sizes, shapes and colors, which also fits with

, where these details are specifically mentioned.

Here, as expected, they have spared no budget.

Production and cost

And speaking of money, here HBO Max has pinned all its hopes on this series.

His hope and his dollars.

The blockbuster part of approximately 20 and 30 million per episode.

Assuming that the season will have

.

cost an average of around 100 million per season and six million per chapter until it reached 15 in its last season.

Blame it all on the dragons.

Sorry Syrax.

So we can expect image quality and infarct planes.

Game of Thrones

has become the most popular series of the 21st century, achieving up to 33

The production level of the first chapters of

are at the level of the best of its predecessor in its seven seasons.

The very high budget of the series makes it more spectacular than expected from the beginning, we will see how many audiences it manages to fall in

.

And speaking of budgets... The series, by the way, has a direct competitor that, curiously, has advanced its premiere.

is coming to Amazon Prime on September 1.

Only the first season has cost 465 million dollars, thus becoming the most expensive series in history.

The end of summer looks splendid.

key characters

Now in Westeros, in King's Landing, more specifically in Dragonstone, there are new characters from the controversial Targaryen family.

Prince Daemon Targaryen, played by Matt Smith (always a safe bet), is George RR Martin's favourite.

Uncle of Rhaenyra and brother of King Viserys I, he is one of the candidates for the Iron Throne and an expert dragonrider.

In the series he begins as the head of the King's Landing Guard.

If in

Jon Snow was a life-saving hero, here Daemon is the perfect anti-hero, charismatic, violent and one of the characters that will give the most talk.

King Viserys I Targaryen

, played by a brilliant Paddy Considine.

Fourteen years after the Great Council, Viserys, a good man but not necessarily a great king, is troubled by the decision as to his own successor.

He has a teenage daughter, Princess Rhaenrya (Milly Alcock), but above all he is without a male heir after his queen, Emma, ​​has suffered a series of miscarriages.

Milly Alcock

is the first to play a young Rhaenyra Targaryen princess.

(This is important: The series will jump into the future ten years.)

If in

we had Arya Stark, Rhaenyra here is her likeness.

Rhaenyra is the first and only living child of Queen Aemma Arryn and King Viserys I Targaryen, who is the King of the Seven Kingdoms.

From a very young age, she positions herself as queen and makes herself loved by the people.

However, the line of succession is soon questioned by the nobles and more.

The adult version of Rhaenyra is played by Emma D'Arcy.

Of pure Valyrian blood and a dragonrider, many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything... But she was not born a man.

Emily Carey

(Olivia Cooke plays her as an adult) is the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the confidante of Princess Rhaenyra.

The girls have grown up together in the rarefied environment of the royal palace, the Red Keep, and are incredibly close, sharing a bond that seems unbreakable until events - maneuvered by the men around them - conspire to pit them against each other.

The introduction of new faces in this sequel isn't as overwhelming as it was in the first few episodes of

.

By focusing heavily on House Targaryens, the plot is easier to follow from the start.

George RR Martin had three requests for the production of

bright heraldry, colorful dragons, and

.

That said, on the personal blog of the creator of the Seven Kingdoms, a few days ago he made it clear what he thought of the series after watching nine episodes:

'I can't speak to the special effects, many of which haven't been seen yet, but the look is great, and the acting, directing and writing are top notch.

And yes, for all the fans of the books, it's MY story.

Of course, there are some changes from the book

- we couldn't present three alternate versions of every major event and keep our sanity - but I think Ryan Condal and the writers of it have made good decisions.

Even some improvements.

(It's heresy, I know, but being the author, I'm allowed to say so.)

For years, as some may recall, I have said that the television version of Shae, played by

She was a deeper, richer, more nuanced character than the Shae in my novels.

Similarly, I am very impressed by the series' version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that the Viserys in my book never achieved.

Congratulations to Paddy, Ryan and his screenwriters, and to Miguel and the other directors.

(There are a lot of great performances in

, or

, as I've heard some call it. You may never have heard of some of our actors, but I think you'll learn to love them, like you did with the cast of

.

International critics, like George RR Martin, have already given their approval to the series.

The public will be the one that makes it reign.

Or not.

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