House of the Dragon: How Much of the Game of Thrones Timeline Will Season 1 Cover?

By Kofi Outlaw

House of the Dragon Season 1 has reached the pivotal point of a major time jump that occurs in Episode 6.  After all the crazy manuevers for power within the Targaryen family, House of the Dragon will move forward in time to see how new family ties are created in the next generation of Targaryens – and all the conflict of fire and blood they will bring with them. We already know that Episode 6 is not the first major movement through time the show has delivered – the question is, how much time will be covered before Season 1 ends? 

When Does House of the Dragon Episode 6 Take Place In The Game of Thrones Timeline? 

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(Photo: Emily D'Arcy (Rhaenyra) & Olivia Cooke (Alicent) will star in 'House of the Dragon')

House of the Dragon Season 1 starts around 105 AC in the Game of Thrones timeline – nearly two hundred years before Eddard Stark's beheading in King's Landing (299 AC) during Game of Thrones. So far, Episodes 1-5 of House of the Dragon have moved through the years 105 – 114 AC in the official Game of Thrones, up until the point that Princess Rheanyra marries Laenor Velaryon.

The House of the Dragon Episode 6 preview cleverly uses childbirth as a measuring tool of of time: We see that Rhaenyra has two younger boys and a baby, while Prince Daemon Targaryen has fathered twin daughters with Laena Velaryon, who is also seen to be pregnant with their third child. It doesn't take much historical research to know that Rhaenyra's third child, Joffrey "Joff" Targaryen was born in 117 AC, while Daemon's twin girls are born in 116 AC, and Laena gets pregnant again in 119 AC. 

Doing all the math, House of the Dragon Episode 6 will at least cover the time period between Rhaenyra's wedding to sometime after Joff Targaryen's birth and Laena's second pregnancy – or at least five years in time. Of course, there's a very real chance time could be stretched out for the purposes of the show, which is never 100% accurate to the timeline of George R.R. Martin's books. 

Where Will House of the Dragon Season 1 End In The Game of Thrones Timeline? 

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(Photo: HBO)

As you can see above, moving five years ahead in time is nothing for House of the Dragon. So how far will the show takes thing in Season 1? 

There is a key event in Game of Thrones history that House of the Dragon is clearly building up to: the infamous Targaryen Civil War known as "The Dance of Dragons." As you may have guessed, the conflict is born from the muddled line of succession that King Viserys I created in his court between his first-born son with his second wife Queen Alicent (Aegon II), and Princess Rheanyra, Viserys' appointed successor. 

Rhaenyra's cold war with Alicent, Aegon, and the rest of Alicent's children becomes a full-fledged war upon the death of King Viserys I, which occurs in 129 AC. It's just speculation at this point, but the betting money is on House of the Dragon ending Season 1 with Viserys' death (and funeral?), setting up the clearly opposed factions of the Targaryen Dynasty that will clash... a perfect hook for Season 2 of the series. 

House of the Dragon airs new episodes Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. 

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