1 of 5 | HBO Max has released the official trailer for its highly anticipated fantasy series "House of the Dragon," which will begin streaming on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of HBO
July 20 (UPI) -- The battle over the Iron Throne has been renewed, as HBO Max on Wednesday released the official trailer for its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon.
The trailer comes one month before the official release date of the highly anticipated show.
The trailer, which debuted ahead of this year's San Diego Comic Con, shows off new footage from the series.
This includes sword fights, battles across burning landscapes and, as its name suggests, a number of dragons.
HBO's logline for the show says that House of the Dragon "tells the story of House Targaryen," which appears to be fighting over control of the land of Westeros.
Much of the infighting seems to involve the characters portrayed by the two starring roles, Matt Smith and Emma D'Arcy. Prince Daemon Targaryen (Smith), the original heir to the throne, is seen leading an army across the bridge while saying, "War is afoot."
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (D'Arcy), who herself seems to want to rule, is also heard questioning whether she will ever be accepted as the heir to the throne.
"A woman would not inherit the Iron Throne, because that is the order of things," she is told.
"When I am queen I will create a new order," the princess ominously says, telling an unseen character, "Now they see you as you are."
Beyond these two, House of the Dragon will also star a number of other notable names, including Olivia Cooke and Paddy Considine.
House of the Dragon will be set approximately 200 years prior to the events of HBO's cultural phenomenon Game of Thrones. Both shows are based on the novel series A Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin, who described himself as "excited" for the upcoming show.
The series' co-showrunners, Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, also spoke about the creative process behind bringing their vision to life.
"I feel incredibly loyal and responsible to the original show," Sapochnik said of Game of Thrones. "I have a great kind of desire to even be in the same room as that show, because it was a game changer."
"George [R.R. Martin] and his writing was a huge influence on me," Condal said, adding, "It's an incredible feeling to achieve my dream job. You're happy for a few seconds, and then you realize the responsibility that's on your shoulders."
House of the Dragon is one of a number of reported spinoffs from Game of Thrones.
In June, Martin confirmed in a blog post that he is working on developing a show based on the popular Game of Thrones character Jon Snow.
"The news has broken about the Jon Snow development and I am being deluged with requests for comment," Martin said. "Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development."
"I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet...but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific," the author added.
Martin also confirmed in the blog post news about three other shows based around Game of Thrones.
"Word got out about three of them some time ago. Ten Thousand Ships, the Nymeria show, helmed by Amanda Segel. Sea Snake, aka Nine Voyages, with Bruno Heller," Martin said. "And the Dunk & Egg show, The Hedge Knight or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, with Steve Conrad writing. I think some of these were officially announced; in other cases, news leaked out."
House of the Dragon will stream on HBO Max starting Aug. 21.
