House Of The Dragon will get its long-awaited debut next month on HBO, though many fans seem unsure of if the show will live up to Game Of Thrones’ enormous hype. The series has been in the works since before Game Of Thrones even ended, so the stakes are high for both fans and HBO.
One of Dragon’s stars Gavin Spokes, who plays Lord Lyonel Strong, believes that the series won’t be for everybody. “Some are going to love, and some are going to hate [it],” Spokes told People while at the premiere of the new series. “You can’t please all the people all the time,” Spokes explained. “I think we have just tried to put as much work and love into it as we can. If people aren’t gonna like it then that’s their opinion.” This seems to be the common mantra that the show’s cast and crew are going with.
Despite the hesitation that some fans may feel, Spokes says the show does a great job of bringing you into the Game Of Thrones world we all know and love. “It’s not a green screen. They built a full castle,” he added. “[Series co-creator Ryan Condal] was showing me around, like this is the chamber, and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to buy a castle?’ They built a whole castle north of London, and it’s extraordinary. And then extras arrive in beautiful costumes and amazing props, and you are sitting in Westeros.”
With the new set comes the new and mysterious new characters that will each get their own backstory as the show develops, something that Spokes says is one of the most exciting parts of the series. “I don’t want to sound derogatory to Thrones at all because I thought it was an incredible series,” Spokes said. “But there’s a slow build in [House Of The Dragon]. And it’s deliberate. Particularly to find out about who those characters really are.”
Considering the events of House take place a few hundred years before our familiar friends in Game Of Thrones, fans might get some fun ancestorial backstories of their favorite GoT characters. Or perhaps it will exist all on its own, as a separate entity from its predecessor. Only time will tell!
House Of The Dragon will premiere August 21st on HBO and HBO Max.