House of the Dragon’s time jumps and timeline, explained

House of the Dragon episode 6 takes a serious 10-year time soar in the motion — and nonetheless it performs out in the future, it’s precisely the variety of transfer the present ought to be making.

One of the finest components of House of the Dragon, HBO’s so-far-so-good Game of Thrones prequel sequence, is how co-creator George R.R. Martin and showrunner Ryan Condal reaped storytelling philosophy from Netflix’s The Crown. Peter Morgan, creator of that sequence, knew it was unattainable to linearly chart each beat of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign (RIP), so from the first season, the drama bounced from important second to important second, with every hour taking part in like a stand-alone movie.

House of the Dragon’s time jumps make Martin’s “history” of Westeros from the e-book Fire & Blood come alive with equal significance. Knowing that each week, viewers will catapult forward by just a few months, and even years, signifies that episodes can simply ship the good things. Game of Thrones discovered epic scale in the map (which it usually needed to reduce corners to completely chart); House of the Dragon finds that very same scope in time.

One of the worst components of House of the Dragon is that I’m however a feeble man who usually must be informed precisely the place and when issues are occurring in a narrative of this scale, and but there’s no hand-holding. Consider me an enormous fan of when David Fincher used screen-filling WordArt to scream issues like “FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA,” in Mindhunter. While the areas in the contained drama of House of the Dragon are pretty simple to observe (though who doesn’t love a map?), I’ll admit that I’ve by no means been 5 minutes into an episode and felt assured that I knew when issues have been taking part in out. The Crown has the benefit of being primarily based on, you recognize, actual historical past, with Morgan usually winding his approach to “aha!” realizations of what every episode will deal with. House of the Dragon drops you headfirst into Targaryen historical past, and whereas the present’s backstabbing pleasures require no actual context, I can’t assist however need that basis.

So for anybody else thrilled by the journey who might additionally use a bit of historic footing, right here is how far our characters have already come since the premiere:

Episode 1, ‘The Heirs of the Dragon’ chilly open

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Martin paperwork time in his A Song of Ice and Fire texts utilizing a B.C./A.D. equal known as “AC,” an abbreviation for “After the Conquest.” In 1 AC, Aegon I Targaryen was topped king after conquesting his means by means of Westeros.

House of the Dragon opens in 101 AC, 197 years earlier than the occasions of Game of Thrones’ first season. We get one main scene on this time interval: King Jaehaerys I Targaryen saying that, after his son Baelon kicked the bucket, his new inheritor wouldn’t be the genealogical alternative of his eldest grandchild, Princess Rhaenys, however his eldest grandson, Prince Viserys. What we don’t see is Jaehaerys die — in 103 AC, in accordance with Fire & Blood — and cross the crown to Viserys.

Later in episode 1, aka most of ‘The Heirs of the Dragon’

It’s robust to say precisely when House of the Dragon will get going, however a title card explains that the present picks up 9 years into King Viserys’ reign. Do the math, and we’re at round 112 AC.

Episode 2, ‘The Rogue Prince’

The present’s first time soar leaps forward by six months, as tensions with Daemon Targaryen — to not point out the factions in the Stepstones — start to escalate.

Episode 3, ‘Second of His Name’

Three years later — so, round 115 AC — shit is getting actual in the Stepstones. Whatever speak of warfare there was again in episode 2 has exploded into true violence, with Prince Daemon wiping out the Crabfeeder with the assist of Lord Corlys Velaryon. This can also be when Alicent Hightower is kind of pregnant together with her and Viserys’ first child, who we’ll finally see as extra of a worthy inheritor to the throne after the subsequent time soar.

Episode 4, ‘King of the Narrow Sea’

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

The time soar in episode 4 is a bit murky, however we all know that Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen has been urged to discover a husband, and has spent a minimum of a pair of months since Daemon’s triumph searching for somebody value her whereas. This can also be when Daemon and Rhaenyra have a bit of a fling. Here, the present diverges from Martin’s Fire & Blood timeline, which noticed Daemon announcing himself King of the Narrow Sea round 109 AC.

Episode 5, ‘We Light the Way’

House of the Dragon and its supply materials proceed to separate in episode 5. Most of Daemon’s exploits in Fire & Blood are happening round 115 AC, however once we choose up with the troubled fella, probably round 114 AC on the present, he’s already staging his new-ish spouse Lady Rhea Royce’s premature loss of life. We additionally see Rhaenyra’s wedding ceremony to Ser Laenor Velaryon, which has been barely shifted up in time from when it happens in the books. But Condal has lined all of it as much as make historical past extra digestible for when the huge soar occurs…

Episode 6, ‘The Princess and the Queen’

The midway level of House of the Dragon’s first season makes a 10- to 15-year time soar (in accordance with Olivia Cooke, who now performs Alicent) to round 124-129 AC. As anybody who has flipped by means of Martin’s Fire & Blood will inform you: This is when shit will get ugly. And it’s already been fairly ugly. But a minimum of we all know when the ugly shit is going on.