House of the Dragon: George R.R. Martin Reveals High Number of Dragons Expected to Appear in Game of Thrones Prequel

A lot of news has been coming out of the production for the long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, which is expected to premiere sometime next year. This week, we learned seven new cast members had been added to the series, which will draw inspiration from George R.R. Martin‘s novella Fire & Blood, and follow the rise of the Targaryen family. In Game of Thrones, dragons had been extinct for nearly 150 years before Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion were born in the Season One finale. However, House of the Dragon takes place long before the series we know and love, which means fans can expect to see more dragons on the series. In fact, Martin recently teased that there will be 17.

“I’ve always thought this was a cool story, it’s one I like, so I’m looking forward to seeing it come alive on screen,” Martin told The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of podcast. “And of course I’m looking forward to the dragons! Obviously, I love the dragons. We had three of them in Game of Thrones but now we got like 17 of them. And hopefully, they’ll each have their own personalities, they’ll be instantly recognizable when you see them, the colors and all of that because the dragons do have personalities in the books, and it’ll be great to see that come alive. And the dragon riders. That’s all pretty cool.”

House of the Dragon is set to star Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D’Arcy as well as Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, and Emily Carey. It was revealed that the series will have five main characters, including King Viserys Targaryen (Considine), Alicent Hightower (Cooke), Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (D’Arcy), Prince Daemon Targaryen (Smith), and Lord Corlys Velaryon AKA the Sea Snake (Toussaint). Ifans will play Otto Hightower, the hand of the King, Best has been cast as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Mizuno plays Mysaria, an ally to Prince Daemon Targaryen, Fabien Frankel will play Ser Criston Cole, Alcock is Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Carey is set to portray Young Alicent Hightower. Ryan Corr is Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong, Jefferson Hall is Lord Jason Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock as well as his twin Tyland Lannister, a crafty and calculating politician. David Horovitch is playing Grand Maester Mellos, Graham McTavish is Ser Harrold Westerling of the Kingsguard, Matthew Needham is Larys Strong, Bill Paterson plays Lord Lyman Beesbury, and Gavin Spokes is Lord Lyonel Strong. 

House of the Dragon does not yet have a premiere date, but the show is expected to debut in 2022.