House of the Dragon premiered its (fantastic) first episode early this morning across the world, and for any lapsed fans of Game of Thrones, trust us–you’re going to want to see this.
Want to watch the first episode in the Middle East for free? Here’s how.
The series is only streaming on OSN+ in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the MENA region, so if you want to watch it, head here.
OSN+ currently has a free 7-day trial, so if you get it now, you’ll be able to watch the first episode now, and then the second episode next week at 4:00 AM GST on August 29.
After that you’ll be charged, but honestly it’s worth it to stick around and watch the rest of this stellar series.
Enjoy!
House of the Dragon: George R.R. Martin ‘very involved’, says co-creator
Westeros is George R.R. Martin’s world—we’re just obsessing over it. But how involved is the legendary writer, who is credited as a creator on House of the Dragon, in the highly anticipated new series?
As the show, the much-discussed prequel to Game of Thrones, premieres throughout the Middle East, we sat down with the show’s co-creator, Ryan J. Condal, to discuss the team’s creative process with Martin, how much he contributed to the first season, and what kind of relationship they will have going forward.
It turns out, George R.R. Martin was strongly involved from the beginning.
“George hired me, and I came to this as a fan. He was very involved with the beginning of the show. Obviously, it does not exist without him. He wrote the original source material,” says Condal.
George R.R. Martin was ‘most interested’ in House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is one of numerous ideas that HBO came up with after the end of Game of Thrones in 2019, in which elite creative teams were placed on different spin-offs, prequels and sequels that could carry on the legacy of the globally popular franchise.
While none of the other series’ ended up seeing the light of day, including a $35 million pilot to a prequel series starring Naomi Watts, House of the Dragon ended up with a straight-to-series order, based on not only HBO’s confidence in the project, but also Martin’s.
The show, after all, was based on his book Fire & Blood, which outlined the entire history of the House Targaryen only alluded to in the A Song of Ice & Fire books.
“This was the successor show that I think he was most interested in, of all the ones that HBO was considering and exploring. Certainly, the very beginning in conceptual phase, George was very involved,” says Condal.
After Martin was fully satisfied with the show, however, he scaled back his involvement, Condal tells us.
“ But I think, having gone through that with him and building out the plan for the pilot and the vision for the show, what time period it was going to cover and what events it was going to focus on, as more and more of those details came together, George felt assured in his writing partner and me, and knowing that I knew the source material and deeply cared about it and wanted to render a faithful adaptation, I think he felt better and better about it,” says Condal.
Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the well-regarded “Battle of the Bastards” episode of Game of Thrones, then signed on as a co-showrunner with Condal, a move with Martin celebrated.
“Then once Miguel got involved, George knew and really loved and trusted him from the original series. I think George likes to be involve at the conceptual incept-stage of the show,” says Condal.
Moving forward, it looks like Martin will be reading scripts and outlines to make sure things are going in the right direction—so fan’s can rest assured that they won’t be straying from his vision.
“And then once that is going and he thinks it’s going in the right direction, he’s certainly read scripts and outlines and scene cuts and inform. He just likes to know what’s going on and likes to know that things are on the right track, which I think thankfully, he has.”
There you have it folks! For more on House of the Dragon, stay tuned as we will be publishing interviews with the entire cast ahead of the series’ release.
And yes, before your ask this show is worth investing in–we’re already hooked.
House of the Dragon premieres on OSN on August 22 at 4:00 AM GST