Paddy Considine Joins HBO's GAME OF THRONES Prequel Series HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Paddy Considine (The Outsider, The Third Day) has joined the cast of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, which is coming from George R.R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik.

The series is inspired by Martin’s Fire & Blood, the series, and the story is set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. The story is said to lead up to and eventually chronicle the house’s civil war, known as the legendary Dance of the Dragons, which was “a massive civil war in the Seven Kingdoms held between two rival branches of House Targaryen.”

Considine will take on the role of King Viserys Targaryen, “chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy. But good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”

The story that the series is telling was initially told in Game of Thrones Season 5, when young Shireen Baratheon read a book about the Targaryen conflict and described the war to her father Stannis:

“It’s the story of the fight between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon for control over the Seven Kingdoms. Both of them thought they belonged on the Iron Throne. When people started declaring for one of them or the other, their fight divided the kingdoms in two. Brothers fought brothers, dragons fought dragons. By the time it was over, thousands were dead. And it was a disaster for the Targaryens as well. They never truly recovered.” 

The script for the pilot episode is being written by Condal (Colony) and frequent Game of Thrones director Sapochnik will direct the pilot and additional episodes. There will be ten episodes total in the first season.

Source: Deadline