'Game of Thrones' Spinoff 'House of the Dragon' Releases First Trailer Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2022

HBO released a full-length trailer for House of the Dragon on Wednesday, giving fans their best idea yet as to what the Game of Thrones prequel has in store. The two-minute, 40-second clip lays out the conflict that will consume the first season and gives us our first glimpse of the new dragons that will soar through this epic. Scroll down to watch it for yourself.

House of the Dragon premieres on Sunday, Aug. 21, and so far we have seen two teasers for the series, but not a full-length trailer like this. The new clip comes at the start of San Diego Comic-Con, where the cast and creators are gathering for a highly-anticipated panel. However, the fans who weren't able to make it should be perfectly satisfied with this trailer, which may still be the biggest revelation this franchise makes all weekend.

House of the Dragon is set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and is based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood – an "imaginary history" book that describes the political events of Westeros in broad strokes. That means that unlike its predecessor, this show is based on a completed story, but it has lots of room to expand and flesh out that story with its much closer perspective.

Fans of Martin's book are already familiar with this story in broad strokes, but this new trailer helps set it up and introduce the main players. As the voice-over relays, the show begins with King Viserys Targaryen I – the fourth generation to rule Westeros – faced with a crisis of succession. Viserys has a daughter from his first marriage, Rhaenyra, but his wife has died meaning there is no possibility of a son taking over for him. This leaves Viserys forced to choose who should be his heir: his daughter in spite of her age or his younger brother, Daemon, in spite of his infamous recklessness.

Story aside, the trailer also shows us plenty of things fans have been dying to see, including ornamental Targaryen armor, new settings such as Driftmark and, of course, more dragons. At the time of this show, House Targaryen has about a dozen dragon-riders, and more dragons who could be bonded to new riders if needed.

Hopefully there's more House of the Dragon news coming this weekend at SDCC, but if not this trailer should satisfy plenty of fans anyway. The series premieres on Sunday, Aug. 21 on HBO and HBO Max.