This summary of the first episode of House of the Dragon contains spoilers for, well, the first episode of House of the Dragon.

IMG source  Google

We're back now. HBO, the Seven Kingdoms, you, and I, the person who recapped Game of Thrones for NPR all those many years ago, are all of us.

IMG source  Google

We are now back. We're all of us: HBO, the Seven Kingdoms, you, and naturally me, the Game of Thrones recapper who worked for NPR all those years ago.

IMG source  Google

About 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon opens.

IMG source  Google

With 10 fully grown dragons under the control of the royal line, the 100-year-old Targaryen Dynasty is at its pinnacle.

IMG source  Google

We begin at Harrenhal, a great, deserted castle that Aegon the Conqueror, the ancestor of the Targaryen Dynasty, famously dracarysed a century prior.

IMG source  Google

We are watching the Great Council of 101 AC, which will choose who will succeed to the Iron Throne.

IMG source  Google

In this corner: Rhaenys Targaryen, the king's granddaughter (she's standing beside her husband Corlys Velaryon, aka the Sea Snake — we'll be seeing a lot more of him).

IMG source  Google

In that corner: the king's grandson Viserys Targaryen, standing beside his wife Aemma Arryn, who is pregnant with their daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen

IMG source  Google