Game of Thrones (from 298 AC) concluded with a plot shrouded in mystery since author George RR Martin still hasn’t finished writing the last two books of A Song of Ice and Fire. However, the 73-year-old did publish Fire & Blood’s first of two volumes, which lays out the entirety of the Targaryen Civil War known as the Dance of the Dragons (129 AC to 131 AC). House of the Dragon will adapt this storyline which is outlined below – one that will have some changes in the TV show no doubt. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD – THIS IS A SUMMARY REMINDER FOR FANS WHO HAVE ALREADY READ FIRE & BLOOD

105 AC: King Viserys I Targaryen names his first-born daughter Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy in House of the Dragon when grown up) his heir.

106 AC: King Viserys I Targaryen remarries to Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke in House of the Dragon) and has four children with her including a boy called Aegon, the future King Aegon II Targaryen aka Aegon the Elder (Tom Glynn-Carney in House of the Dragon).

114 AC: King Viserys I Targaryen marries Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen to Lord Laenor Velaryon. (John Macmillan in House of the Dragon). This strengthens her claim to the throne since he is the son of Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint in House of the Dragon) and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen “The Queen Who Never Was” (Eve Best in House of the Dragon). The couple have three sons Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey Velaryon (Harry Collett, Elliot Grihault and TBC in House of the Dragon).

120 AC: Lord Laenor Velaryon is murdered in Spicetown and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen marries her uncle, the younger brother of King Viserys I Targaryen, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith in House of the Dragon). Their firstborn son is called Aegon, the future King Aegon III Targaryen aka Aegon the Younger (TBC in House of the Dragon).

Prince Daemon Targaryen takes revenge for his wife by having his former sergeant of the City Watch sneak into King’s Landing and force King Aegon II Targaryen’s sister-wife, Queen Helaena Targaryen, to decide which of her two sons should die. She reluctantly chooses Prince Maelor Targaryen, the second son, so the firstborn Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen is murdered instead. 

King Aegon II Targaryen is severely injured at the Battle of Rook’s Rest in a dragon fight that claims the life of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. So his younger brother Prince Aemond Targaryen becomes Protector of the Realm.

Lord Corlys Velaryon threatens to leave The Half-Year Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s cause upon this news of his wife’s death but remains at her side after being named the Hand of the Queen.

Prince Viserys Targaryen (the future King Viserys II Targaryen), the younger brother of Prince Aegon the Younger (the future King Aegon III Targaryen), is captured by King Aegon II Targaryen’s forces.

130 AC: The Half-Year Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s heir Prince Jacaerys Velaryon is killed at the Battle of the Gullet. Filled with rage, she uses dragons with her uncle-husband Prince Daemon Targaryen to attack King’s Landing. King Aegon II Targaryen and his children Prince Maelor Targaryen and Princess Jaehaera Targaryen flee and The Half-Year Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen takes her seat on the Iron Throne.

Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans in the House of the Dragon), the father of King Viserys I Targaryen’s wife Queen Alicent Hightower, is captured and beheaded along with Lord Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy in House of the Dragon), while Ser Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall in House of the Dragon) is tortured to find the whereabouts of his hidden gold. 

Prince Aegon the Younger (the future King Aegon III Targaryen) and his younger brother Prince Joffrey Targaryen are called to King’s Landing, while Prince Viserys Targaryen (the future King Viserys II Targaryen) is presumed dead despite being in captivity. 

Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel in House of the Dragon) is killed at the Battle of Butcher’s Ball.

DON’T MISS
House of the Dragon: George RR Martin details Season 1 ending [GEORGE RR MARTIN]
Cancelled Game of Thrones prequel: When $30 million pilot was set [GAME OF THRONES SPIN-OFF]
House of the Dragon breaks record with ‘traumatic’ first episode [HOUSE OF THE DRAGON]

Prince Maelor Targaryen is discovered with his protector at Bitterbridge by The blacks who tear him to pieces as they each tried to claim the three-year-old.  Meanwhile, King Aegon II Targaryen had been smuggled to Dragonstone.

Prince Aemond Targaryen is killed in a dragon duel with a sword through his blind eye by Prince Daemon Targaryen at the Battle Above the Gods Eye.

Queen Helaena Targaryen throws herself from Maegor’s Holdfast and is impaled on the moat’s spikes below. 

The Half-Year Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen abandons King’s Landing after the storming of the Dragonpit by a crazy mob led by a prophet called The Shepherd, who killed four dragons. She set sail for Dragonstone with Aegon the Younger (the future King Aegon III Targaryen) but were captured by the greens there. King Aegon II Targaryen fed her to his dragon Sunfyre while her son – who became a hostage – looked on. The monarch returns to King’s Landing to sit on the Iron Throne again, well aware that The blacks’ cause lived on.

Lord Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans in House of the Dragon) had recaptured King’s Landing for him, so is granted to marry the sole heir Princess Jaehaera Targaryen. 

131 AC: Lord Borros Baratheon is killed at the Battle of the Kingsroad by Lord Kermit Tully 

The black army marches on King’s Landing and Lord Corlys Velaryon tells King Aegon II Targaryen that his only option now is to surrender and join the Night’s Watch, but the monarch refuses, having an ear of Prince Aegon the Younger cut off and set to the opposing forces.

King Aegon II Targaryen dies shortly afterwards, having drunk poisoned wine from a mystery assassin. Prince Aegon the Younger is crowned King Aegon III Targaryen and a regency is established until 136 AC. 

His son Daeron I Targaryen succeeds him in 157 AC but is killed in 161 AC after the Conquest of Dorne. He is succeeded by his younger brother Baelor I Targaryen who dies in 171 AC due to prolonged fasting. His heir is his uncle, Prince Viserys Targaryen who becomes Viserys II Targaryen for a one-year reign.

House of the Dragon is streaming now on NOW.