10 details you might have missed in the highly anticipated new trailer for HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’

The first shot of the trailer appears to show Princess Rhaenrya Targaryen at Dragonstone.

As mentioned on season seven of “Game of Thrones,” Dragonstone is the ancestral stronghold of the Targaryens. It’s where Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) goes to regroup with her forces at the beginning of the same season before taking the Iron Throne.

While “House of the Dragon” takes place several centuries before the events of “Game of Thrones,” it appears that Dragonstone will feature just as prominently. And the opening shot of the new teaser trailer shows Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) surveying the ocean while standing on the edge of a cliff at Dragonstone – much like her descendant Daenerys does some 200 years later in a similar shot.

We get a better look at the new Iron Throne in this trailer.

The first look at “House of the Dragon” showed a different Iron Throne than fans of the original series are used to. The prequel throne had many swords surrounding the chair like thorns and is slightly higher and asymmetrical compared to the original series.

This is closer to the type of throne George RR Martin envisioned, according to a lengthy 2013 blog post he wrote.

In the new trailer, we get a further look at the throne room, including the Targaryen sigil banners, thus highlighting that House Targaryen are still rulers of Westeros at this point.

In the same shot, we also see the fabled Blackfyre sword.

In the shots of the Iron Throne, we also see King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) holding a particular sword. This sword seems to be Blackfyre, an important weapon from the “Game of Thrones” books. It is made of Valyrian steel, one of the few things that can be used to kill the infamous White Walkers.

Blackfyre has been used by many great Targaryen kings and could be important during the upcoming civil war in “House of the Dragon” as a symbol of legitimacy to the throne.

Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen wears a necklace with seals of important houses of the kingdom.

During the throne room scene, we also see Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen again (this time played by Milly Alcock) wearing an ornate necklace with multiple symbols on it.

A closer look shows that these are the sigils of different houses in the kingdom: Targaryen at the center of the front; a fish representing House Tully to its right; and the House Martell symbol appears to be at the back of the necklace.

This is probably to reinforce how as a child, Rhaenyra was considered to be next in line for the throne, and thus intended to rule all of these houses.

Two different versions of Rhaenyra are shown in the trailer.

With both a young Rhaenyra (Alcock) and an older version (D’Arcy) making appearances in the same teaser, it’s likely that “House of the Dragon” is going to be split between two timelines, or at least feature plenty of flashbacks.

Several key events in Rhaenyra’s childhood provide the basis for later conflicts (including her father’s second marriage, and her relationship with her uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen), so viewers can expect to see much of the princess’ life portrayed on the new show.

 

The shots of a building in ruins could be Harrenhal, which was featured previously in the “Game of Throne” HBO series.

In one of the scenes, we see a gathering within a building that is in ruins. This could be Harrenhal, one of the key buildings in the first three seasons of “Game of Thrones,” and where Arya is taken as a prisoner in season two.

The building is also important to the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war from the “Game of Thrones” books that “House of the Dragon” is based on. At one point during the war, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) used the castle as a base of operations.

An instantly recognizable brooch signifies Otto Hightower’s position in court.

Hightower wears a pin with a hand on it, which, as “Game of Thrones” fans know, means that he’s the Hand of the King (a trusted adviser to the ruler of Westeros).

Other notable Hands on “Game of Thrones” included Tyrion Lannister, who was the ill-fated Queen Daenerys’ Hand during her quest for the Iron Throne, and Ned Stark, who was the Hand of King Robert Baratheon before being betrayed and executed at the end of the first season of “Game of Thrones.”

A quote from Princess Rhaenys seems to reference the Targaryen women’s quests for power.

In the trailer, Rhaenys (Eve Best) tells a young Rhaenrya, “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne.”

Fans of Martin’s books will instantly recognize the significance for Rhaenyra’s own attempts to gain power (spoiler: it does not end so well for her), but even if you’re not familiar with Targaryen family lore, the quote still seems to foreshadow Daenerys ‘efforts centuries later to reclaim the throne for her family.

Otto Hightower wears a cloak with the Hightower seals.

One of the other important families in the upcoming series is House Hightower, whose leader is Otto Hightower (Ifans), the current Hand of the King. Towards the end of the trailer, we see Otto in his full armor which includes a cloak with the Hightower sigil, a tower with fire coming out of it.

Alicent Hightower seems to use Arya Stark’s dagger to try and kill Rhaenyra in the trailer.

In the first look at “House of the Dragon,” we saw Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke), the daughter of Otto, run through a group of people with the same dagger that Arya Stark used to kill the Night King in the final season or “Game of Thrones.”

While the new trailer does not explain why Alicent has the dagger, it does show her attempting to use the dagger on Rhaenyra. In the book series, Alicent is a key adversary against Rhaenyra’s ascent to the throne, which means this might be playing out again in the series.

“House of the Dragon” premieres on August 21 on HBO.