‘House of the Dragon’ Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know

That said, we're still going to watch House of the Dragon. And to that end, we decided to read up on what's happening in this series and we're happy to report that there's a lot to look forward to. From now on we're going to refer to the series as Hot D, because this is the way the author, and marathon procrastinator, George R.R. Martin says it.

Anyway, here's what you need to know before watching Hot D.

The show takes place 200 years before Game of Thrones

The timeline for the original HBO GoT series is set in ~298AC and Hot D is set during ~101 to 131AC, 200 years before. AC in the lore of the books stands for After Conquest, i.e., the conquest of Westeros by the Targaryens.

In 0AC Aegon Targaryen conquered the 7 kingdoms, forged the Iron Throne in King's Landing and his descendents ruled for 100 years before the beginning of Hot D. They are firmly entrenched in Westeros and are at the height of their power.

The Targaryens are also fighting for the Iron Throne

Just like its forerunner, Hot D is a political family drama with different players vying for the Iron Throne. To put it simply, the current king is Viserys and he wants his daughter Rhaenyra to take the throne. Viserys' brother, Prince Daemon wants the throne for himself and the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower also has his hidden motivations.

The show's co-creator describes the series as a "generational war" and there will be time jumps within the series following Princess Rhaenyra as a child and as an adult.

There are a lot of dragons

In GoT dragons were thought to be extinct and there were only 3 dragons throughout the series. In Hot D there are at least 17 dragons and the showrunners say at least 9 will make an appearance.

The showrunners have also put more emphasis on the design of the dragons to differentiate them and their riders. As every Targaryen is born with a dragon egg given to them, we'll see each major character riding their own dragon.

The Hightower Family

Surrounding the central Targaryen family are the Hightowers. Otto Hightower is the Hand of the King while Alicent Hightower is best friends with Rhaenyra Targaryen. Alicent and Rhaenyra's friendship will be a central theme in the show as the series will skip forward and backwards in time to see this relationship evolve.

Otto on the other hand is set against Daemon Targaryen, who he loathes and he will do everything in his power to prevent Daemon from ascending to the Iron Throne.

The Velaryon Family

The Velaryon family are a seafaring nation who are powerful allies of the Targaryen family. Unlike the Targaryens, they do not ride on dragons but instead rule the sea.

In the show we will follow Corlys Velaryon a famous explorer who married King Viserys's cousin Rhaenys Targaryen. Rhaenys was the rightful heir to the throne but the crown was given to Viserys and she was then known as The Queen Who Never Was.

As rightful heir, Rhaenys is also eyeing the throne, along with her two children who are both dragon riders.

The series is based on a finished book called Fire & Blood

This is the most important thing you need to know before watching Hot D. The original GoT series were based on the unfinished collection of books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels.

Fire & Blood is a complete book that reads more like a historical compendium rather than a straight up novel. What's important here is that there is a definite framework for a beginning, middle, and end for the series.

Unlike GoT where the showrunners run out of steam without the books and prove that they're not as good storytellers as they were story interpreters. Also bonus point, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are nowhere near this project, so make of that what you will.

The book is not explicit on the intricacies of the relationships between the main characters so it is up to current showrunners Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik to fill in the blanks. The writer-director duo have proven themselves in their previous work and we're excited to see where they can take the Targaryens.