When does ‘House of the Dragon’ take place?

Most of you already know that House of the Dragon will involve the Targaryen dynasty at the pinnacle of their rule over the Seven Kingdoms, but how far are we going back in the chronological Game of Thrones timeline? And is there a possibility that the two shows might overlap?

When the original show first premiered on HBO in 2011, viewers were introduced to some of the greatest houses in the history of Westeros. The Lannisters of Lannisport, the Starks of Winterfell, and the Baratheons of Stormlands. And while all of these names and the legacy they carry on their shoulders are enough to leave every history enthusiast like Samwell Tarly in awe, none of them quite soar as high in majesty and glory as the Targaryens of old did back before Robert’s Rebellion.

That’s where House of the Dragon has anchored its storytelling talons, dealing with the reign of fire and blood all the way up to the notorious Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that engulfed the realms in chaos and brought about the downfall of the entire dynasty.

So, when are the dragons taking flight?

With our first look at House of the Dragon, which has mostly comprised trailers and little tidbits in interviews, it’s a little difficult to pinpoint the exact year the show will start. What we know is that this will be far into Aegon’s conquest, with Viserys I succeeding the Old King Jaehaerys, so the series could start as early as 103 AC (referring to the calendar Aegon established after bringing the Seven Kingdoms to heel.)

Then again, director Miquel Sapochnik has hinted that the show won’t feature a linear timeline, so we could be constantly going back and forth between the dates and even taking significant time jumps between episodes. After all, we already know two actresses are set to portray Rhaenyra Targaryen, one portraying the princess’ early youth and the other her older version.

What’s more, the trailers have also depicted Jaehaerys the Wise, so we might be going before 103 AC, which is the year he died. All in all, we can expect House of the Dragon to pick up the story after 100 AC, and continue it all the way up to the late 200s.

Robert’s Rebellion, the event heavily alluded to in Game of Thrones and involving the end of the Targaryen rule in Westeros, started in 281 AC. The events of the main series are set some twenty years after that, 298 AC, to be precise.

All in all, the House of the Dragon crew has more than 150 years of history to chronicle, even if creator George R.R. Martin decides against getting into the reign of the Mad King and finishes the series with the conclusion of the Dance of the Dragons, which took place between 129 to 131 AC.