Over three years after the final episode of Game of Thrones premiered on HBO Max, ‘House of the Dragon’ has finally landed on the streaming service. The prequel series pulled in a massive 9.986 million viewers, making it the largest original series premiere in HBO history. The House of the Dragon premiere even caused HBO Max to crash for some users, with about 3,000 reported outages on Sunday timed to the debut episode of House of the Dragon. 

House of the Dragon is set centuries before the events of ‘Game of Thrones’, and follows the Targaryen family, ancestors of Game of Thrones‘ Daenerys Targaryen. The cast features Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy/Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen and Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.

Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO & HBO Max said in a press release: “It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night. House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response. We look forward to sharing with audiences what else George, Ryan, and Miguel have in store for them this season.”

House of the Dragon episode 1 is now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes premiere at 9/8c on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

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