When Does House of the Dragon Take Place? (Is It a Prequel or a Sequel)

The massive success of Game of Thrones is well-documented, especially when compared to some of the most successful TV series we have seen in the history of television. Due to how successful Game of Thrones was, HBO capitalized on the franchise’s popularity with the spin-off series called House of the Dragon, which focuses more on the Targaryen family. So, when does House of the Drago take place, and is it a prequel or a sequel?

House of the Dragon takes place right around 200 years before the start of Game of Thrones. The series will focus more on the Targaryen civil war called the Dance of the Dragons, which led to the eventual downfall of House Targaryen and the extinction of the dragons from Westeros.

One of the most defining moments in the history of Westeros was the Targaryen civil war that saw several members of the family fighting for the right to sit on the Iron Throne. This was the event that eventually led to the rebellion against the Targaryen rule before the events of Game of Thrones. As such, let’s look at the timeline of House of the Dragon and where it takes place.

When Does House Of The Dragon Take Place?

There is no doubt that one of the most successful and most popular TV shows of all time is Game of Thrones, which captivated audiences for nearly a decade. While there are a lot of things that we can say about the final season of Game of Thrones, we still know for a fact that it had an amazing cultural impact on the entire world. And that’s because of the amazing storytelling used in this HBO original series that’s based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels.

Of course, the popularity of Game of Thrones still is apparent today, despite the fact that a lot of people are still trying to forget about the final season. And the popularity of this HBO original series led to the creation of an entire TV series franchise, with Game of Thrones as the main show.

This allowed the rise of House of the Dragon, which is a spin-off series that is also based on the same universe that George RR Martin created in his books. However, the characters are entirely different from the main series, and the storyline will follow an entirely different narrative as well. In that regard, we are going to see a show that’s refreshingly new while still carrying some of the elements that made Game of Thrones as popular as it is.

Nevertheless, while we do know that House of the Dragon is set in the same universe as Game of Thrones and also follows the story of the entire continent of Westeros, it doesn’t take place at the same time or even close to the events of Game of Thrones. So, when does House of the Dragon take place?

House of the Dragon actually takes place nearly 200 years before the events of the main Game of Thrones series. This story follows the events that are collectively known as the Dance of the Dragons, which is basically the Targaryen civil war, wherein different members of House Targaryen waged war against each other for the opportunity to sit at the Iron Throne.

As such, the main focus of House of the Dragon, as the title suggests, is the story behind House Targaryen more than a century after Aegon conquered the entire continent of Westeros and forced it under Targaryen rule. In this story, we follow several members of House Targaryen, such as King Viserys, Princess Rhaenyra, and Prince Daemon.

However, the Dance of Dragons was a crucial event that eventually affected the entire history of Westeros and the future of House Targaryen. This was brought about by the infighting between different Targaryens that wanted to take the throne due to certain issues regarding the succession. And the reason why this event was called the Dance of Dragons was due to the fact that the Targaryens made use of their dragons as their tools for war when they were fighting one another.

In that regard, it is more than possible that the first part of House of the Dragon will talk about the events that eventually led to the falling out between the different members of House Targaryen. And it is quite possible that, by the time we finish the first season or even when we get to the latter seasons, the Dance of Dragons has fully commenced.

Is House Of The Dragon A Prequel Or A Sequel?

Based on the fact that House of the Dragon follows the events that led to the Dance of Dragons and will possibly cover the Dance of Dragons itself or the Targaryen civil war, there is no doubt that this is a prequel series that helped shape the events that led to the political situation during the events of Game of Thrones.

For those who’ve seen Game of Thrones, it was well-documented that the dragons had all died out and went extinct (before Daenerys returned with three dragons). The extinction of the dragons had weakened House Targaryen because they had lost the weapons that helped them conquer the entire continent of Westeros and stay in power for more than two centuries.

But because the Targaryens were already weak and were without their dragons, it became easier for Robert Baratheon to mount a rebellion that ousted the entire Targaryen household from the Iron Throne. This eventually led to the political problems that arose after Robert’s death during the events of Game of Thrones.

Everything that led to the weakening of House Targaryen can be traced back to the events of the Dance of Dragons, which happened when different members of House Targaryen waged war against one another for the right to sit on the Iron Throne. Of course, because they used dragons as their main tools of war against each other, the dragons gradually went extinct and died out.

It only took less than three decades after the end of the Dance of Dragons for the entire dragon lineage to go extinct. This was due to the fact that most of the adult dragons had died out during the Targaryen civil war. Meanwhile, the surviving dragons were chained up and weren’t allowed to roam free.

The extinction of the dragons was an omen for the eventual fall of House Targaryen, which used dragons not only as its sigil but as its symbol of power. Eventually, House Targaryen became too weak that it brought about the reign of the Mad King, who was ousted by House Baratheon during Robert’s rebellion.

As such, the Dance of Dragons is an important event in the history of Westeros because of how it was the omen that led to the eventual downfall of an entire ruling family more than a century later. And this was one of the events that made it possible for other houses to recognize that the Targaryens were not invincible.