Game of Thrones’ highly-anticipated prequel series House of the Dragon will be heading to the small screen this summer.
The programme explores a brutal Targaryen civil war that tore Westeros apart around 300 years before the original series took place.
Doctor Who icon Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Paddy Considine are among the cast ruling the Targaryen clan.
Other actors joining the serial fantasy are Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria and Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole.
The show’s official Twitter confirmed that House of the Dragon will premiere on August 21.
The first look at the trailer – which dropped in October 2021 – sees Matt’s Prince Daemon walking with a lit torch, before saying: ‘Gods. Kings. Fire. And blood’.
‘200 years before the fall of the throne, a dynasty reigned,’ the trailer teases, as Matt declares: ‘Dreams didn’t make us kings. Dragons did.’
The explosive teaser also saw Olivia Cooke’s character, Lady Alicent Hightower attacking someone with a dagger.
Alicent will be introduced as the daughter of the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who has connections with the monarch’s inner circle in King’s landing.
In April last year, behind the scenes snaps emerged of the film crew launching a boat into the sea, with experts showing the actors in wetsuits how to operate the equipment.
Casey Bloys, content chief for HBO and HBO Max, recently spoke out on the series, appearing confident that it will delight fans of George RR Martin’s fictional world.
‘It looks spectacular,’ he remarked, adding that the cast that showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal ‘have put together looks good’.