HBO Max’s fresh attempt to maintain the fervor that surrounded Game of Thrones at the height of its popularity is set for release at the end of August, and fans aren’t sure what to expect.
The show that inspired HBO Max’s upcoming House of the Dragon was a sensation for years — until its fandom experienced a sharp drop-off following its final season. Season eight of the once-beloved series ruined the entire story for many of its fans, and history may well mark its final episode as the moment the Game of Thrones fandom died.
Despite this, or perhaps because of it, HBO Max hopes to bank on the former popularity of its captivating series with the release of House of the Dragon, a prequel show set in the same universe. The show aims to fill in details about the history of Westeros and the Targaryens, with a show set during the Dance of the Dragons, a bloody war of succession that helped to define the Targaryen legacy. The series has all the ingredients of a stellar show, but fans are still heading into it with broad trepidation. Game of Thrones already burned us once, and many aren’t ready for it to do so again.
Still, a huge number of people are already making plans to try out the new series, in hopes that it dulls the pain of that long ago Game of Thrones finale. As we inch closer to the show’s official release, viewers are planning out their viewing schedules and making space for each new episode. The series will be released like its predecessor, with fresh episodes dropping on a weekly basis, and here’s when they’ll be hitting your time zone.
When do new episodes of House of the Dragon release?
House of the Dragon will see a joint, consecutive release on both HBO and HBO Max. The first episode will drop at 9pm EST on Sunday, Aug. 21, with subsequent episodes following the same format. For users in different time zones, each episode should drop weekly, on Sunday, at 6pm PT and 8pm CT. For viewers in the UK and Ireland, that translates to 2am. In Spain and Italy, the episodes will likewise see an early morning release, with episodes airing at 3am local time, and the same goes for a number of other European locations, like Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria, all of whom should see fresh episodes become available at 3am. Other areas of the world, like New Zealand, Israel, and Japan, will largely see fresh episodes drop the day following their release in other countries, with episodes airing between 4am and 1pm local time.
Here’s a look at the dates each of the first season’s ten episodes will drop. We don’t have announced titles for each of the first season’s episodes, but the first two give a teaser of what fans can expect.
- Episode One: “The Heirs of the Dragon” — Aug. 21
- Episode Two: “The Rogue Prince” — Aug. 28
- Episode Three: TBA — Sept. 4
- Episode Four: TBA — Sept. 11
- Episode Five: TBA — Sept. 18
- Episode Six: TBA — Sept. 25
- Episode Seven: TBA — Oct. 2
- Episode Eight: TBA — Oct. 9
- Episode Nine: TBA — Oct. 16
- Episode Ten: TBA — Oct. 23
