Do You Have to Watch ‘Game of Thrones’ to Watch ‘House of the Dragon’?

House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones, but one could certainly watch it without watching the original series. Both shows require some distillation to get from door-stopper books to flash TV shows, though the transition plays out quite differently in each show. If you’re new to Westeros and you’re interested House of the Dragon, read on for some background that might be helpful.

Game of Thrones was an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s novel series A Song of Ice and Fire – the first volume of which was titled A Game of Thrones. Martin famously did not finish his book series before the TV show caught up with him, but he is still working on it today. In the meantime, his work has exploded in popularity and he has fleshed out his fantasy setting quite a bit. It was only natural for HBO to try and make a franchise out of this global hit, but in this case Martin gave them plenty of material to work with.

House of the Dragon is based directly on Martin’s writing, but it is not based on a novel. It’s based on Martin’s most recent book, Fire & Blood, which is an “imaginary history book” about Westeros. It is written from the perspective of an in-world scholar based on in-world sources, and therefore uses the unreliable narrator lens like never before. This makes House of the Dragon one of the most unique adaptations ever, as it is constantly answering questions left by the book.

House of the Dragon is more contained than Game of Thrones, confined mostly to a cast of characters who live together or spend a lot of time together in one portion of Martin’s map. This could make it easier for new fans to grasp. If you struggled with the scope of Game of Thrones, this show might be more your speed.

Of course, there are plenty of allusions to Game of Thrones that might go over your head while watching House of the Dragon. In some cases, these will be glaringly obvious, and it might be frustrating to feel like you don’t know what’s going on. However, this won’t impact your understanding of this story at all, so if you can stand to let some cryptic prophecies and generational foreshadowing pass you by, you should be all set to enjoy this fantasy political thriller.

Ultimately, new fans may find themselves interested in the rest of this franchise after getting sucked into House of the Dragon. Game of Thrones has a famously controversial ending, but most fans agree that it is still worth watching – at least in the early seasons. Beyond that, you could always read Martin’s books in print, digital and audiobook formats. The three companion books Fire & Blood, The World of Ice & Fire and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will help prepare you for other spinoff shows HBO is developing. In the meantime, House of the Dragon airs on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.