How to watch House of the Dragon for FREE in the UK, US or anywhere

By Aaron Brown, Express Affiliate Development Editor with 10 years of experience writing about the latest developments in consumer technology, product reviews, and buying advice

how to watch house of the dragon uk us sky hbo max abroad

How to watch House of the Dragon in the UK, US and abroad ahead of TV show starting on August 21 (Image: HBO • EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)

The season finale of House of the Dragon airs on Sky Atlantic tonight. For those who can't wait that long, the final episode – entitled The Black Queen – is available to watch on-demand, since Sky broadcasts the show simultaneously with its premiere on HBO in the United States (roughly 2am BST) and it becomes available to download and stream on Sky Go as soon as the episode ends for those who prefer to watch over their cornflakes. Although, that might be ill-advised given the amount of squelchy gore that features in the show...

Sky started its simultaneous broadcasts during the peak of popularity for Game of Thrones as a way to avoid piracy and help UK viewers avoid spoilers on social media. The tenth episode of the first season of House of the Dragon will be shown again from 9pm tonight (Monday October 24, 2022) on Sky Atlantic for Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky+ HD, BT TV and NOW subscribers. Although Virgin TV 360 customers can access Sky channels via their set-top box, Sky Atlantic is not included in any of these bundles.

And of course, there is a clever way to watch House of the Dragon tonight for free. We've got everything you need to know below.

If you're abroad, it's still possible to stream House of the Dragon as soon as the latest episode is available ...we've also got all of the crucial details below as well as the best deals to watch the HBO Max show in the UK. If you want to immerse yourself in George RR Martin's fantasy world, we've got all of the details on how to do just that in this article! 

Watch House of the Dragon with Sky TV deals
Partner image from £22 View Deal

House of the Dragon season two is airing now on Sky Atlantic and can be watched with a raft of Sky TV deals. Shoppers can save £96 on the Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix plan, or bag a Sky Glass and Netflix bundle from £14.

The contentious final season of Game of Thrones rolled its credits for the last time back in May 2019. Following a number of failed pitches for spin-off series in the intervening years, HBO is now ready to return to Westeros with a brand-new show.

Can You Watch House of the Dragon From Anywhere?

Yes, you can. UK viewers will need to be subscribed to Sky TV to watch the latest episode of House of the Dragon at the same time as it airs in the US (and catch up with all eight seasons of Game of Thrones on-demand).

If you're abroad with work or on holiday, you'll need the brilliant ExpressVPN to stream the show on Sky Go or HBO Max from any country in the world. For a limited time, you can get 3 months of ExpressVPN FREE when you sign-up. 

House of the Dragon is a prequel series set hundreds of years before the events depicted in the eight seasons of Game of Thrones. It chronicles the beginnings of the dragon-wielding Targaryen dynasty (the ancestors of Emilia Clarke's fan-favourite Daenerys Targaryen from the original series) and their own succession drama.

The first season of House of the Dragon will consist of 10 episodes (the same length as the first season of Game of Thrones) that will air weekly in the UK, Europe, and US. It stars Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy, to name a few.

The show, inspired by George RR Martin's 736-page epic book Fire and Blood, has been in the works at HBO in some form since 2019.

The beloved author has been closely involved in the development of the new TV show, something that wasn't the case for the final few seasons of Game of Thrones and is one reason that fans were disappointed with some of the creative decisions in later episodes.

If you want a taste of the upcoming return to Westeros, HBO has released a full trailer for the new series below...

What is House of the Dragon about?

Set 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is centred on the House Targaryen. After a long period of peace in Westeros, a disagreement over succession will set Targaryen family members (and their dragons) against one another to decide who should sit on the Iron Throne.

Paddy Considine stars as Viserys Targaryen, the fifth king of the Seven Kingdoms – a kingdom created by his ancestor, Aegon the Conqueror, who also forged the Iron Throne with the swords of his (numerous) enemies. When it comes time to choose a successor for Viserys, a power struggle begins between his younger brother, Prince Daemon (Doctor Who and Last Night In Soho's Matt Smith), and his firstborn child, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Wanderlust's Emma D’Arcy).

how to watch house of the dragon uk matt smith

Doctor Who's Matt Smith stars as Prince Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon (Image: HBO)

This succession struggle kickstarts the first civil war for the House Targaryen – also known as the Dance of the Dragon, which you might remember referenced in a number of pivotal moments in Game of Thrones. As that moniker suggests, expect to see plenty of sparring, political intrigue amongst family members to secure the Iron Thrones, and fire-breathing dragons tearing one another apart.

Rumours suggest that HBO is planning to start filming a second series of House of the Dragon in late 2022, so don't expect all of the events of Fire and Blood to be covered in the first 10-episode run. With George RR Martin closely involved with the production, we should expect a slower pace than the later seasons of Game of Thrones.

When did House of the Dragon season one start?

House of the Dragon broadcast its first episode on Sunday August 21, 2022 in the United States.

Thankfully, fans of Game of Thrones in the UK were able to watch the blockbuster new TV show at exactly the same time as US viewers will be able to watch the latest episode. That's because Sky Atlantic simulcast the episode from 2am BST for those who desperately want to avoid spoilers for the show.

If you're not much of a night owl,  or  users are able to record House of the Dragon each week when it's shown at 2am the night before, and then watch at a time that suits them the following day. The episode is also available on-demand to download and watch on Sky Go, for those who want to catch the action during their morning commute.

Alternatively, Sky Atlantic repeats the latest episode of House of the Dragon at 9pm on Monday night.

Sky started to simultaneously broadcast Game of Thrones alongside channels and streaming services in the US as the fantasy epic gained huge popularity worldwide and viewers became increasingly worried about seeing spoilers on social media from viewers stateside (getting through an entire day avoiding spoilers in the wake of the Red Wedding was a real turning point for fans outside the United States...). This practice will continue for the entire first season of House of the Dragon this summer.

how to watch s01 house of the dragon

The first season of House of the Dragon has 10 episodes (Image: HBO)

When is the next episode of House of the Dragon?

The final episode of House of the Dragon will be broadcast Monday October 24, 2022 at 2am and 9pm on Sky Atlantic. Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky+ HD and NOW (formerly NOW TV) viewers will be able to tune-in to watch the episode live. Episode 10, dubbed The Black Queen, will be available to watch on-demand after it has aired.

And that's it. US network HBO has already confirmed that season two of House of the Dragon is on the way. The show was given the greenlight for a second season before episode two even premiered, so production of the next batch of episodes should be well underway. We'd expect to see the show sometime in late 2023 at the earliest or most likely 2024.

Every episode in House Of The Dragon season one
Episode 1
The Heirs Of The Dragon
First Broadcast
August 22, 2022
Episode 2
The Rogue Prince
First Broadcast
August 29, 2022
Episode 3
Second Of His Name
First Broadcast
September 5, 2022
Episode 4
King Of The Narrow Sea
First Broadcast
September 12, 2022
Episode 5
We Light The Way
First Broadcast
September 19, 2022
Episode 6
The Princess And The Queen
First Broadcast
September 26, 2022
Episode 7
Driftmark
First Broadcast
October 3, 2022
Episode 8
The Lord Of The Tides
First Broadcast
October 10, 2022
Episode 9
The Green Council
First Broadcast
October 17, 2022
Episode 10
The Black Queen
First Broadcast
October 24, 2022

How to watch House of the Dragon in the UK

Sky has the exclusive rights to House of the Dragon in the UK as, unlike most European countries, there's no release date for HBO Max – the US broadcaster's streaming service – on the horizon in the UK. As such, the only way to watch or stream House of the Dragon on these shores is with Sky Glass, Sky Q, Sky+ HD, or a NOW (formerly NOW TV) membership.

If you're a Sky TV subscriber, you'll be able to watch on your commute on a phone or tablet with Sky Go.

Just like with Game of Thrones, Sky Atlantic has confirmed plans to air the hotly-anticipated episode at the same time as it begins in the United States on HBO. That way fans can avoid the risk of stumbling across spoilers on social media before the UK air date.

Regrettably, due to the time difference, you can expect to tune-in for House of the Dragon at a pretty anti-social time ...2am, to be exact.

If you don't fancy staying up that late, House of the Dragon will be shown again at 9pm on Monday evenings. And as soon as the episode has aired in the small-hours, it will be available to download and watch on-demand on Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky Stream and Sky Go. House of the Dragon is available in 4K Ultra HD picture quality too.

Get Sky Atlantic on Sky Q

House of the Dragon will be shown exclusively on Sky Atlantic – a channel that's not available on rival set-top boxes, like Virgin Media TV V6. As such, you'll need to sign-up for Sky Q (an award-winning 4K box) to get access to the channel. You'll also enjoy a Netflix subscription, live channels like Sky Crime, Sky Comedy, and Sky Sci-Fi, and 500 on-demand boxsets from HBO, Peacock, and Sky Originals.

Set-up costs: £20 | Contract length: 18-months

Get Sky Atlantic on Sky Glass

If you want to watch House of the Dragon on the latest hardware from Sky, you can get Sky Atlantic (as well as a Netflix subscription, hundreds of on-demand boxsets, and free access to US streaming service Peacock) on Sky Glass for £39 per month. That includes the custom-designed 4K QLED TV with built-in Dolby Atmos soundbar in a range of colours.

Set-up costs: £10 | Contract length: Up to 48-months for TV, 31-days for Sky TV | Free Delivery

Get Sky Atlantic + Netflix on BT TV

You'll need to be a BT broadband customer to take advantage of this incredible deal, although new and existing customers are both eligible. Until August 25, BT is offering telly fans the opportunity to secure a Netflix subscription, NOW Entertainment Membership (Sky Atlantic, Sky Crime, Sky Documentaries, Sky Max) and a BT TV Box Pro for under a tenner. Better yet, this discounted price is locked-in for the duration of the contract. BT will waive the upfront fee too!

Contact term: 24-months | Upfront fee: £0

How to watch House of the Dragon from anywhere

If you've planned a summer holiday or business trip in the next few weeks and don't want to miss the latest episode of House of the Dragon, you'll need to make sure you're able to stream the HBO show from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, that's not possible with catch-up solutions like Sky Go, which offers access to your recordings and on-demand boxsets and movies from a phone, tablet or laptop when you're away from home, as this doesn't allow for streaming outside of the UK.

Likewise, HBO Max subscribers who find themselves in the UK will be unable to watch on the popular Netflix rival, which won't launch in the UK until 2026 at the earliest due to the licensing deal between HBO and Sky.

Fortunately, VPNs offers a low-cost way to unlock streaming anywhere in the world.

The create an encrypted tunnel for everything you do online – protecting your online data from hackers and cyber attacks, preventing your internet provider and advertisers from keeping tabs on you, and finally, allowing you to manually change your IP address to anywhere in the world. By switching to a UK- or US-based IP address with a VPN, you'll be able to access the right streaming app to watch House of the Dragon – no matter where you are!

Here are a few simple steps on how to do...

  • Download a VPN, our top choice is ExpressVPN
  • Load up your newly-installed VPN
  • Select a server based in the UK
  • Head to Sky Go or HBO Max
  • Select House of the Dragon
  • And that's it! Everything should load as if you're sitting on the sofa at home!

It's always worth checking the small print of your preferred streaming app for House of the Dragon to make sure that using a VPN to watch from abroad isn't against the terms and conditions. If you want to stream HBO Max from the UK using a VPN, you'll need a US payment method to sign-up for the subscription method.

ExpressVPN – Get 49% Off and 3 Months For FREE

ExpressVPN allows you to change the location of your phone, tablet, Smart TV or laptop so you can continue to stream House of the Dragon from Sky Go or HBO Max when you're abroad with work or on a summer holiday!

How to watch House of the Dragon in the United States

HBO will air the new series on its paid-for cable channels. Unfortunately, the House of the Dragon season premiere is just a little too far away to know the timings quite yet. We'll update this guide as soon as we know more about each channel's plans for the spin-off show.

HBO Max subscribers ($9.99 per month / $99.99 per year with adverts or $14.99 per month / $149.99 per year for ad-free) will be able to binge the first episode of House of the Dragon on August 21, 2022. The streaming service also has access to all Game of Thrones episodes, for those who want to immerse themselves back into the world of Westeros ahead of the season premiere. HBO Max recently upgraded the quality of Game of Thrones to 4K Ultra HD, which is not available on Sky TV in the UK.

How to watch House of the Dragon for free

It is possible to watch House of the Dragon without paying anything ...but only if you're willing to wait. Since House of the Dragon airs exclusively on Sky Atlantic, which is bundled as part of a contract-free NOW Entertainment Membership. Usually priced at £9.99 per month, this includes access to dozens of Sky TV channels, like Sky Max, Sky Crime, Sky Witness, Sky History, and more. Sky Atlantic is included as part of the membership.

NOW offers a week-long free trial for all new customers. Cancel at any point during that period and you won't pay anything. During the free trial period, you'll be able to watch anything on NOW – either live or on-demand.

If you sign-up for the free trial now, it's possible to binge the entire first season of House of the Dragon during the week-long trial so you don't have to pay a penny ...as long as you're quick!

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