 |  The page House of the Dragon season 1 in the mainspace is currently a redirect to House of the Dragon. |
 | An editor has marked this as a promising draft and requests that, should it go unedited for six months, G13 deletion be postponed, either by making a dummy/minor edit to the page, or by improving and submitting it for review. Last edited by [[User:|]] ([[User talk:|talk]] | contribs) 0 seconds ago. (Update) |  |
| House of the Dragon | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
| Showrunners | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | August 21 – October 23, 2022 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of the fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon premiered on HBO on August 21, 2022, in the U.S. and concluded on October 23, 2022. It consists of ten episodes, each of approximately 1 hour. The series is based Fire & Blood, a prequel novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, adapted for television by Ryan Condal and Martin. Following the conclusion of it's predecessor series Game of Thrones, in October 2019, HBO ordered the first season, which began filming in April 2021, primarily in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal.
The story takes place in a fantasy world, particularly upon the continent Westeros, set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The season follows Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen rise into the throne after her father King Viserys I Targaryen chooses her as his heir, following the deaths of the latter's wife and newborn son. However, Viserys' decision breaks an inheritance principle and a century tradition of only naming male heirs, which inadvertently leads to an internal turmoil that slowly starts to divide the House Targaryen, while Rhaenyra struggles with the responsabilities of being the heiress of the Iron Throne. As the tensions between the Targaryen's grow with the pass of the years, the Hand of the King Otto Hightower secretely conspire to ursurp House Targaryen and place House Hightower as the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms, by having his daughter Alicent Hightower married with Viserys and fathering the Prince Aegon II Targaryen as the heir of the Iron Throne. The season ends with Aegon being crowned as the King of the Seven Kingdosm and Rhaenyra planning to reclaim the Iron Throne.
House of the Dragon features a large ensemble cast, including established actors such as Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, and Graham McTavish. Newer actors were cast as the younger generation of characters, such as Emma D'Arcy, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, and Fabien Frankel. Critics praised the character development, visual effects, writing, Ramin Djawadi's score, and performances; Smith's and D'arcy's performcances as Daemon Targaryen and Rhaenyra respectively received multiple accolades. However, the pacing, specifically of the time jumps, and the dark lighting of some scenes were criticized. The first season won one of the nine Emmy Awards for which it was nominated, while one of the nominees being for Outstanding Drama Series. The series premiere was watched by over 10 million viewers across the linear channels and HBO Max on the first day, the biggest in HBO's history.