Our first return to Westeros since Game of Thrones‘ end demands fire, blood, and a summer release date.

t’s been a few years since we last left Westeros in… well, it was certainly a state. But as we’ve waited to return to George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world and go back even further into its past with the Targaryen-focused prequel series House of the Dragon, we now know that we don’t have much longer to wait for that return.

HBO has confirmed that the series, set hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones, will premiere on HBO Max on August 21, 2022. Here’s a new poster to go with the announcement, featuring, of course, a Dragon egg ready to hatch.

House of the Dragon, loosely based on the events of the 2018 book of the same name by George R.R. Martin—itself also being adapted into a more general lore book due for release later this year—follows the Targaryen family during a period of intra-personal conflict known in Game of Thrones’ vast history as the Dance of Dragons. A civil war between rival factions in the family over who will inherit the Iron Throne after King Viserys I Targaryen, the conflict sets the stage for House Targaryen’s eventual decline, and the loss of many of the family’s most powerful assets, the dragons that given them their fearsome and fiery reputation.

Starring Paddy Considine as King Viserys I, Doctor Who’s Matt Smith as Viserys’ brother Prince Daemon Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Viserys’ first-born child and his choice for heir, and Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans as Alicent (Viserys’ second wife) and Otto Hightower (Viserys’ Hand of the King, his official right hand man in ruling Westeros), respectively, the series also stars Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Ryan Corr, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Graham McTavish, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Gavin Spokes, and Ewan Mitchell.

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