Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are both big shows in their own right and they also share a universe. The golden question we are answering in this post is whether the original show needs to be viewed before the new one.
The answer to that is no. You do NOT need to watch Game of Thrones before House of the Dragon. The new series is a prequel, meaning it happens before the original. The timeline is up in the air, depending on which synopsis you read. However, to give a bit of context, a scroll of text in the first episode of HotD, states that the series begins 172 years before the death of King Aerys Targaryen, the father of Princess Daenerys Targaryen.
- Alicent Only Now Realises That The Green Council Was Never Going Agree To Her Being Aegon’s Regent – What An Idiot!
- What Is Going On With Team Green? Aemond Tries To Assassinate Aegon And Alicent Was Potentially Pregnant?
- There Will Be Fire And Blood! A First Look At House Of The Dragon Season 2
- Who Does Matt Smith Play In House of the Dragon?
- Who Is Jon Snow’s Father In Game Of Thrones?
Playing Around With The Timelines On House Of The Dragon And Game Of Thrones
House of the Dragon had to play around with its timeline because they had to age their younger characters up or in Alicent’s case, down. As per UK filming laws, characters who are under 16 cannot be shown having sex, regardless of how old the actor is. For example, in the first season of Game of Thrones had to age Daenerys up two years from her book counterpart’s age. In the book, Daenerys is 14. In Thrones season 1, she is 16, due to the above rule. Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys, was 23.
Another example is Rhaenyra who is 9 in the book but 15 when the show starts. She is then 16 in the second episode as 6 months have passed since her mother’s death. Moreover, this allows her to have sex with Criston in a later episode. Alicent is in a similar position. She is roughly the same age as her then-best friend. However, the book, Fire and Blood states she is about a decade older than her stepdaughter when she marries Viserys.
Milly Alcock who plays young Rhaenyra was in her early 20s when the pilot was filmed. Emily Carey who played young Alicent was shy of 20.
The timeline would have changed for the original show too to reflect the changes to the characters’ ages.
