Tower of the Hand

It's official: House of the Dragon will make its long-awaited debut on August 21 on HBO Max. The prequel to Game of Thrones focuses on House Targaryen's rise to power centuries before we witnessed the family line end with Daenerys Targaryen. Based on George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood novel, the new show was developed for HBO by Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, and stars Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, and Matt Smith.

TV Tattle notes that the premiere date pits House of the Dragon squarely against another fantasy heavyweight: the Lord of the Rings TV show from Amazon Prime. A former Amazon executive concludes the scheduling is "a pretty clear sign HBO Max is very confident" about House of the Dragon. After watching a rough cut of the first episode, GRRM similarly expressed confidence in it: "It's dark, it's powerful, it's visceral... just the way I like my epic fantasy."

Martin may have also hinted at the new show's premiere data when he recently announced The Rise of the Dragon (a new illustrated adaptation of Fire & Blood, co-written by Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson). That book is set to come out on October 21, two days before House of the Dragon's first season is scheduled to end. You can pre-order The Rise of the Dragon here (Amazon affiliate link).