Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will have a lot more dragons than the original series

Game of Thrones
(Image credit: HBO)

Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will have more dragons than the original series, according to George R.R. Martin.

"I've always thought this was a cool story, it's one I like, so I'm looking forward to seeing it come alive on screen," Martin commented on The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of podcast (H/T ComicBook.com). "And of course I'm looking forward to the dragons. Obviously, I love the dragons. We had three of them in Game of Thrones, but now we got like 17 of them. And hopefully, they'll each have their own personalities, they'll be instantly recognizable when you see them, the colors and all of that because the dragons do have personalities in the books, and it'll be great to see that come alive. And the dragon riders. That's all pretty cool."

Game of Thrones' three dragons – Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal – were hatched by Daenerys Targaryen, and spent the entire series at her side. Only one made it out of the show alive, though, so here's hoping House of the Dragon's 17-or-so fire-breathers have better luck.

House of the Dragon is set centuries before Game of Thrones, and will focus on the Targaryen civil war that became known as the Dance of the Dragons. The series will introduce us to characters like Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), and many more besides.

"It looks spectacular," HBO content chief Casey Bloys said recently. "The cast that [showrunners] Miguel [Sapochnik] and Ryan [Condal] have put together looks good."

House of the Dragon will premiere in 2022. Until then, check out our guide to the best Netflix shows to fill out your watchlist.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.