Does House Baratheon Play a Role in 'House of the Dragon'? Here's What We Know

Once upon a time, a writer named George R.R. Martin procrastinated on the next highly anticipated book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series by writing a prequel novel set in the same universe.

Now that prequel novel has been adapted into a television series called House of the Dragon, which is set to debut on HBO on Sunday, August 21, 2022. The trailer footage has made it evident that the series will focus on the Targaryens, but will any other prominent houses play a role, like House Baratheon?

For timeline context — Robert's Rebellion, the civil war that saw House Baratheon usurp Targaryens as rulers of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, occurred several decades before the events of the Game of Thrones television series (for clarity, whenever we refer to Game of Thrones in this article, it will be referring to the TV adaptation).

As Distractify has previously reported, House of the Dragon takes place two centuries before Game of Thrones.

The answer? The Baratheons are briefly mentioned in House of the Dragon, (as Distractify noted in our House of the Dragon review). However, they aren't major players (so far, anyway) in the Game of Thrones prequel series.

The central conflict of House of the Dragon is really all in the family — the Targaryen family, that is.

Seeds of civil war are sown among the members of our favorite silver-haired, dragon-riding house when King Viserys I (not Daenerys's cousin), declares that his eldest daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) will inherit the Iron Throne.

Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is incensed by the succession snub. Why couldn't his brother Viserys just hand him the throne instead? So, Daemon does what any spoiled royal would do in the situation — claim that he's the rightful heir. Civil war ensues.

Even though the Baratheons don't have a major part to play yet in the Targaryen family squabbles, that doesn't mean that they couldn't factor into a future season of House of the Dragon.

After all, the Targaryen discord weakens their house's strength as rulers of Westeros, to the point where Robert Baratheon is able to step in years later and overtake them. There was some drama with Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark that instigated it, but that's a story Game of Thrones already covered!

Although House of the Dragon hasn't been renewed yet for a second season, we'd be shocked if it ended after Season 1.

In the interim, you can catch the Season 1 premiere of House of the Dragon on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. EST. So, embrace your inner Cersei Lannister, grab a glass of wine for the premiere, and toast to George's top-tier procrastination project when it hits our screens this Sunday.