'House of the Dragon' Episode 2: How to Watch If You Miss the Premiere

If you're falling behind on HBO's new fantasy drama House of the Dragon it won't be hard to catch up. The series is airing on the HBO linear cable network, but it is available simultaneously on HBO Max as well. You can stream each episode starting as soon as it airs on TV.

House of the Dragon is HBO's biggest TV events in years, as it brings fans back to the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros they learned to love in Game of Thrones. The series airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, but if you don't have cable you can stream it on HBO Max at any subscription level starting at 9 p.m. ET as well. This means cord-cutters can effectively watch it right alongside cable subscribers for as little as $9.99 per month. Best of all, if you miss the episode during its time slot you can stream it on HBO Max at any time.

For the last couple of years, a growing number of TV fans have decided that they actually prefer "appointment viewing" TV schedules over the full-season "drop" model. In other words, fans prefer when a new episode of their TV show airs every week at the same time, creating a bit of an event and allowing time for anticipation to build and for discussions among friends and family. While Netflix original series tend to drop all of their episodes at once, streamers like HBO Max still stick to their appointments instead.

That seems to be working in House of the Dragon's favor, as the show is picking up some serious steam going into its second week. Its premiere was HBO's biggest premiere of all time, and it seems fans are more than ready for another installment. If you decide to hop in mid-season, you can always catch up on all the episodes released so far on HBO Max.

House of the Dragon is based on Fire & Blood – a companion book to A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Fire & Blood is not a novel but an "imaginary history book," written from the perspective of a Westerosi scholar using in-world sources, not all of which are reliable. This presents some interesting tension for the adaptation, which must decide on answers to the questions left hanging on the page. In its first episode alone, the show indicated that some of those revelations will have wide-reaching implications for this beloved fictional world and perhaps for the final two books, which are still in the works.

House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max. Martin's books, including Fire & Blood, are available in print, digital and audiobook formats.