The reign of House Targaryen begins in House of the Dragon, the highly-anticipated prequel to HBO‘s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones.

A new trailer has arrived for the series, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel and set 200 years before the events of GoT. The plot follows House Targaryen and its clashes and interactions with other houses – including House Baratheon and House Velaryon – as events lead up to the Targaryen civil war. Among the key figures shown in the trailer: King Viserys Targaryen (played by Paddy Considine), Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy).

As the trailer shows, the ins and outs of politics and relationships surrounding the Iron Throne won’t leave anyone clean – the cost of claiming control in this bloody world. “History does not remember blood… it remembers names,” says a character.  Oh, and yes, there be dragons!

Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony, Hercules) co-created the series, with Condal and Miguel Sapochnik (who directed six episodes of GoT, including the fantastic Battle of the Bastards ep) serving as showrunners and executive producers. Episodes are directed by Sapochnik, Clare Kilner (The Alienist: Angel of Darkness), Geeta V. Patel ( The Witcher), and Greg Yaitanes (Banshee, House).

As you’d expect, there’s a massive cast here, also including Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Rhys Ifans, Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, and Tom Glynn-Carney, among many others.

House of the Dragon will be kicking off on HBO Max in the U.S. on August 21st and Binge in Australia on August 22nd.