How to watch House of the Dragon in Australia

Game of Thrones ended with a thump rather than a triumph, but HBO has delivered again with a less-popular but arguably stronger start with the prequel series House of the Dragon. After close to two years waiting, House of the Dragon has finally returned for its second season. 

Set hundreds of years before the War of the Five Kings (and the events of the original series), House of the Dragon makes good on the sweeping history that acted as a moody backdrop to the adventures of the Starks and Lannisters.

Depicting the dragon-riding Targaryen dynasty in their prime, the first season of House of the Dragon delivered drama and dragons sparingly.  If you're located in the United States or overseas, you'll be able to stream them through Max. Unfortunately, neither of these services are available in Australia. Instead, Aussies looking for their next fix of George RR Martin's fantasy world will have to look elsewhere.

• Foxtel Now
• Binge
• Foxtel via FOX SHOWCASE

Here in Australia, House of the Dragon is available to stream via both Binge and Foxtel Now. The series also airs week-to-week via Foxtel's classic pay TV service. 

If you're not already a Binge subscriber, the return of House of the Dragon is a great excuse to sign up for the service on a 7-day free trial. While that won't last you the full season, it'll get you part of the way there. Plus, now that Binge offers 4K streaming, it's a better deal than ever. We just recommend paying for the Standard plan in order to dodge the ads on the Basic plan. 

The second season of House of the Dragon is comprised of 10 episodes, with a new instalment dropping each week. New episodes of House of the Dragon will be available every Monday at 11:00AM AEST. 

Forgiving any unexpected delays, the Season Two Finale of House of the Dragon should air on the 5th of August 2024 in Australia.

If you'd rather watch it all at once, that's when you can expect episodes of the Game of Thrones spin-off to become available on digital services like Apple TV and Google Play. 

House of the Dragon is a fantasy drama set in the feudal kingdom of Westeros.

Set several hundred years prior to the events of Game of Thrones, the prequel series follows the rivalries and alliances of the royal Targaryen family as it descends into a period of civil war (later referred to by characters in Game of Thrones as the "Dance of the Dragons") and political turmoil.

This setup deeply similar to Game of Thrones but also starkly differen, pun intended. There are aren't any White Walkers in the mix, but there are a lot more dragons this time around. And as is custom with Mr RR Martin, more incest tban you would have thought necessary. 

House of the Dragon is loosely based on a set of short stories which were later collected into George RR Martin's Fire & Blood.

Unlike Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is not a word-for-word adaptation of this book. The source material in question is written from the perspective of an in-universe historian, which gives the team bringing the story to life a bit more wiggle room in terms of how they approach it.

Binge is Foxtel's second streaming service. Rather than adopt the cable-style channel packs model seen with Foxtel Now, Binge has a more Netflix-inspired subscription system. You pay a monthly fee, you get access to everything in the Binge library plus the features associated with your membership tier.

Check out the table below for a breakdown of how Binge compares to Australia's other streaming services.

There's currently only one way to watch House of the Dragon in 4K in Australia: Foxtel.

While the Game of Thrones prequel is available to stream via Binge and Foxtel Now, Australia's premier Pay TV service is the only place you'll be able to find the series in ultra high-definition. At least, until it gets a 4K Blu-ray release.