‘House of the Dragon’ Star Matt Smith Teases ‘Dark and Disturbed’ Character

This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s 2022 Preview issue. For more inside scoop on what’s coming to TV and streaming in the new year, pick up the issue, on newsstands Thursday, January 13.

The controversial 2019 finale of the HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones left a seemingly unfillable void in the TV universe. But now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel — and it’s coming from a flame-spewing dragon.

The 10-episode prequel, House of the Dragon, set two centuries earlier and based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, chronicles the passions and power plays of House Targaryen, the dragon-riding noble ancestors of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke).

(Credit: HBO)

When we first swoop in, the realm is ruled by the honorable King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). His daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is an accomplished dragonrider, but, as a woman, cannot inherit the Iron Throne.

Next in line is Viserys’ younger brother, the unrivaled warrior Prince Daemon (Doctor Who’s Matt Smith). As the battle for succession begins, a bloody civil war, dubbed the Dance of the Dragons, looms. We smell smoke already!

Smith has called his character “dark and disturbed” and Daemon’s ride, Caraxes, “the angriest of all the dragons. He’s a real moody bastard.” No wonder Viserys’ loyal adviser, Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), sees the prince as the kingdom’s biggest threat.

House of the Dragon, TBA, HBO