Before George R.R. Martin’s Westeros endured the Game of Thrones, Aegon the Conquerer set up his House of Targaryen to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Now, HBO is gearing up to show us the mayhem that happened when this house splintered into two sides that each claimed the Iron Throne. In one corner, Rhaenyra Targaryen had been named rightful heir by her father. On the other side, Aegon Targaryen II had been erroneously elevated to king after his wife, Alicent Hightower, mistakenly interpreted King Viserys’ deathbed ramblings.
Let’s get real though — Alicent was headed in this direction regardless of whether it happened by mistake or by plan.
With that said, House Of The Dragon‘s second season shall soon arrive to continue filling in the gaps before the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Night debuts (supposedly in 2025) to bridge the Westeros timeline before GoT. Much ground will be followed, but the HBO streaming service, Max, will take the story to the skies. Let’s get down to business on how to brace ourselves for more of the Fire and Blood book moving from mere “historical” account to a fully realized wall of fire in our living rooms.
Plot
Obviously, the show will continue to track the Targaryen lineage about 300 years prior to near-extinction level on Game of Thrones. Yet whereas the first season charted the mistakes that were made (mainly by King Viserys, RIP) that led to the dominoes being lined up, this season pits the two teams — Black (Targaryen) and Green (Hightower) — against each other atop dragons. So, we’ll see the “Dance of the Dragons,” so nicknamed by the civilians of Westeros, take place with mass casualties as a result.
Sure, that’s a bummer, but on the bright side, we will definitely meet new dragons following the first-season debuts of many air-bound creatures. Also, more dragon riders will be needed to fill those seats, and in Martin’s lore, Targaryens do look outside the family for those who are worthy to take those rides. It’s sad to realize that so many lives will be lost after the catalyst of Luc Targaryen’s death, which sparked vengeance from Rhaenyra, but then there’s this ridiculous question: Will there be time for any icky foot-thing scenes? We can only hope.
With that said, this series has been plotted out for four seasons, and that plan could change, but it’s unlikely that we will see the entire war take place in Season 2. Hopefully, we will at least see the inevitable showdown between Daemon and (Mini-Me) Aemond, and if that plot point follows the Fire and Blood book, both men should be very afraid.
During this Targaryen Civil War, George R.R. Martin killed off half the population of Westeros and, as noted previously, nearly every member of the blondest family. However, the HBO series has already tweaked parts of the book, so there’s no reason to believe that everything will go down as Martin wrote in the lore. Queen Alicent and Otto Hightower will definitely begin to see consequences of their long game, and Rhaenyra will be coming for the Iron Throne with Blood and Cheese (wait for them, oh boy) paving the way.
First, Daemon must zoom around Westeros to gather as many houses as possible for that fight. The Hightower side will do their recruiting, too. I suspect that the strategy set-up will take up much of this second season, but unlike with the book, Rhaenyra might even leave Dragonstone to participate. And we will literally see fire rain down from the sky when the two sides have to force allegiance from reluctant settlements.
Cast
The stage is set for repeat turns by Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen), Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Matthew Needham (Larys Strong), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole the terrible), Steve Toussaint (Corlys “Sea Snake” Valaryon), Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen), Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen II), Phia Saban (Helaena Targaryen), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Velaryon), Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen), and Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria/that White Worm).
Millie Alcock and the rest of the first-generation Targaryens and Hightowers will, as far as HBO has indicated, not be returning this season in flashbacks. That doesn’t mean that we won’t see them again someday, but at least Paddy Considine does not have to jeopardize his own health for another stunning performance that the awards circuit decides to ignore.
We shall also meet an endless stream of new character including Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), a mysterious healer from Harrenhal, who plays a pivotal role in the book. Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale) will step up as Castellan of Harrenhal, Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) will surface as Otto Hightower’s son, and Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) will follow up on his work in the Stepstones campaign.
Release Date
June 16! Hold onto your wigs.
Trailer
HBO delivered both Black and Green versions:
‘House of the Dragon’s first season can be streamed on Max.
