HBO announces 'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon'

Hours after scrapping plans for a "Game of Thrones" prequel set in the Age of Heroes focusing on the Long Night, HBO on Tuesday afternoon announced a straight-to-series order for a different prequel called "House of the Dragon".

Set in the world of Westeros, the rumoured prequel focuses on the rise of House Targaryen and was created by "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony). The prequel was given a formal series order on Tuesday at the end of HBO Max's formal unveiling to investors.

The prequel is set 300 years before the events of the original "Game of Thrones" series. The spin-off will be a 10-episode series for which Martin and Condal will pen the script. It will be based on Martin's book "Fire and Blood" from "The Song of Ice and Fire" series, according to Hollywood Reporter.

"The Game of Thrones universe is so rich with stories. We look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros along with Miguel, Ryan, and George," said HBO programming president Casey Bloys.

The pilot and additional episodes will be directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who earned an Emmy for directing the "Battle of the Bastards" episode in Season 9. Vince Gerardis will be an executive producer. Miguel Sapochnik and Martin will also serve as co-showrunners. The events of the new series will eventually lead up to The Dance of the Dragons, a major moment in the Seven Kingdoms' history, leading to an all-out civil war between two rival factions of House Targaryen.

HBO took to its Twitter account to share a poster of the series, which has garnered thousands of reactions within a few hours.

However, viewers still seem pretty disappointed with the character graph of Daenerys Targaryen in the flagship series. A fan of the character played by Emilia Clarke wrote on Twitter: "I still haven't forgotten how you turned the main Targaryen into a cartoon villain for some bells... still mad about that but this is better than the prequel of the racist northerners". Another Twitter user wrote: "It's gonna be funny seeing you depict Aegon as a hero while you demonised Daenerys for less. Anyway, targ nation keeps winning and we love it."

The prequel set in the Age of Heroes that could not see the light of the day took place thousands of years before the original series. HBO had even shot a full pilot episode in Northern Ireland earlier this year. Naomi Watts was finalised as the lead actress in the prequel by showrunner Jane Goldman.