200 years before Daenerys Targaryen began her now ill-fated journey to King’s Landing to sit on the Iron Throne, as ruler of the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros, her bloodline was immersed in a succession battle known as the ‘Dance of the Dragons’. These are all chronicled in the new HBO series ‘House of The Dragon’, premiering on DStv channel 101 from tonight 22 August, at 9:30 pm WAT.
House of the Dragon is an American fantasy drama television series that is a prequel to the television series Game of Thrones, and both are based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin. Set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, the events leading up to and covering the Targaryen war of succession, known as the “Dance of the Dragons”.
House Targaryen was the ruling house of the Seven Kingdoms for nearly 300 years, holding a royal court in King’s Landing. Originally from Valyria on the continent of Essos, the Targaryens are one of forty dragonlord families in the Valyrian Freehold, but not the most powerful. Before Valyria was destroyed, the Targaryens left for Dragonstone, the westernmost outpost of their empire, where Aegon I Targaryen was approached a century after, by an alliance of some of the Free Cities, who sought to rebuild the Freehold under their rule, which Aegon consented to.
With the Valyrian Freehold broken, Aegon turned west towards Westeros, intent on uniting the Seven Kingdoms under one ruler, with Dragonstone being the perfect staging point for his conquest. With the aid of his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, the Targaryens, using their three dragons, successfully conquered six of the Seven Kingdoms by destroying defiant houses and making subjects of submissive ones, with the seventh one peacefully joining the realm through marriage. Aegon built the Iron Throne with his enemies’ swords and his dragon’s flame, building the Red Keep as his throne room and King’s Landing as his new capital.
With knowledge of this history, Daenerys, with her allies, made up of the Unsullied, The free folks of cities she rescued, the Dothraki, Jon Snow as well as her dragons, marched on to King’s Landing to reclaim the throne that was built by her great-grandfather Aegon Targaryen.
Catch new episodes of House Of The Dragon on DStv Channel 101, every Monday from the 22nd of August at 9:30 PM WAT to follow the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the “Dance of the dragons”.
