Winter is (almost) here, or rather the Dance of the Dragon. Ahead of its release on August 21, HBO has dropped an extended trailer of its Game of Thrones prequel – The House of the Dragon.

Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, The House of the Dragon will explore the events of Dance of the Dragons, first introduced in the A Song of Ice & Fire novels. As the name implies, it refers to the Targaryen civil war which occurred two centuries before the War of the Five Kings, or the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

The 2:49-minute trailer dwells into the complicated political dynamics of choosing an heir between Prince Daemon Targaryen, played by Matt Smith and Princess Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy. Amidst all of the chaos, the show promises to deliver loads of dragons, swordplay and bleached blonde hair. 

We’ve already spoken about why we’re excited about the upcoming prequel, despite the lacklustre conclusion of the main show. In case you needed more incentive, the show will be produced without the inclusion of David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, creators of the original series. It’ll be helmed by Miguel Sapochnik, who’s directed some of the show’s highly rated episodes like Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards and more. 

Apart from Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy, the main cast here consists of Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Paddy Considine as King Viserys I, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole and Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria.

Here’s how the interweb has reacted to the new trailer – 

Image credits: HBO