'House of the Dragon,' the 'Game of Thrones' prequel series, returns to HBO on June 16.
"War is coming" to House of the Dragon's second season.
House of the Dragon season 2 premieres on June 16, nearly two years after the first season aired on HBO. In a May 2024 cover story for Variety, series star Matt Smith and showrunner Ryan Condal offered fresh insight into what fans can expect when we return to Westeros.
"I think the pace will feel more like building momentum," Condal told the outlet. "Season 1 felt breakneck because you were jumping time periods, whereas season 2 feels like you light a fuse in episode 1 and watch it go -- and at points, little charges go off."
Season 1 ended in dramatic fashion, with everyone in Westeros seemingly declaring their allegiance to either King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) or Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). In the first trailers for season 2, viewers are urged to "Choose a Side" between the Black Council (a.k.a. Team Rhaenyra) and the Green Council (a.k.a. Team Aegon).
"The Targaryen who sits on the Iron Throne is not just a king or a queen, they are a protector of the realm," the season 2 trailer begins ominously. By its conclusion, Rhaenyra quietly warns: "War is coming and neither of us may win."
Read on for everything we know about what's to come in season 2, from new cast members to episode count and everything else in between.
Plot and Timeline
After spending most of season 1 establishing the main players in the battle of succession to follow the death of King Viserys (played by Paddy Considine, who will surely be missed), season 2 will inch the series closer and closer to war.
"We will get to the spectacle," co-creator and Condal previously told The Times. (His co-showrunner, Miguel Sapochnik, is not returning for season 2.) "But you have to understand these people’s complexities before they’re thrown into war."
And now that we've gotten to know the major characters, as well as what's at stake, he said, "[Season] two will hit the rhythms people came to expect from the middle run of Game of Thrones, but it will have been earned, and viewers will feel the tragedies because we put the work in."
The crux of the season's conflict will most certainly center around the Green vs. Black battle for control of the Iron Throne. Following Queen Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) misinterpretation of King Viserys' dying words -- which installed her son, Aegon II (Glynn-Carney), as king -- both sides have their own claim to rule.
However, as Glynn-Carney told ET at the season 2 premiere, "My name is on the lease for the castle. I've said it before and I'll say it again."
"Look it's just more fun being king," he added, "so I'm going to fight for it."
As a counterpoint, Cooke admitted to ET at the season 2 premiere that Alicent may soon learn that installing her son on the Iron Throne was not the personal victory she expected it to be.
"She starts at her most powerful, she's put her son on the throne, but within that, she's given up her regency -- she's now the dowager queen," she explained. "I don't think she quite realizes that that is an exchange of power and then, what does she do when she realizes that the boys, the men in her life start to shun her?"
There will also certainly be a reckoning within the fractured family for the murder of Rhaenyra's son, Lucerys Velaryon, who was killed by Aemond Targaryen during a duel on dragonback in the season 1 finale.
"When we meet [Rhaenyra] at the start of the [season], I think she's sort of paralyzed," D'Arcy told ET of her character arc in season 2. "I think she's sort of rigid with grief."
"The political designs have never felt sort of more personally important, and I think for Rhaenyra, particularly, her inheritance, sitting the Iron Throne, her name in the Targaryen histories, all of these feel like a way to remain closer to her late father, and so sitting the throne is like a fundamental, personal need now, as well as a sort of political aim."
Mitchell told ET at the season 2 premiere that Aemond's emotional journey in season 2 is shaped by his remorse over the unintended murder of his nephew.
"In season 2, you are going to see those different shades. You see it on his face at the end of the series -- you see that moment of regret," he recalled. "You're gonna see more of them in season 2. It challenges the audience and it challenges what they already know of Aemond."
According to the GOT fansite Winter Is Coming, there are also several big events that could play out in the second season. "Without getting into too much detail, there will be a conspiracy within the Red Keep, Rhaenys Targaryen will mount Meleys again, and there will be a search for more dragonriders," the fansite stated.
Along with more riders, both sides will also have more firepower.
"You're going to meet five new dragons," Condal teased to THR in March 2023.
As for Daemon Targaryen (Smith), the series' big bad turned internet boyfriend, expect for a lot more exploration into his dynamic with his niece and current wife, Rhaenyra. "We're writing season two and figuring out, what is the nature of his relationship with Rhaenyra?" writer Sara Hess previously told The Hollywood Reporter. "There are many interpretations [in Fire & Blood] to that."
In his May 2024 interview with Variety, Smith said that Daemon will be "much weaker" in the upcoming season after losing Rhaenyra's trust.
"We definitely meet Daemon at a point of crisis in this situation, and in many ways, it's a different version of him," Smith explained.
At the season 2 premiere, the actor expanded on the fractured dynamic between Daemon and Rhaenyra in season 2.
"I think Daemon is doing things that he thinks are for the benefit of the family, and that he's sort of duty bound to do, really, but invariably it creates a deeper fragmentation between the two of them," he explained. "In many ways he's sort of on his own path... They're a complicated bunch."
"Daemon's very aligned with Rhaenyra and wanting to take back the throne that he believes was stolen from her," Condal agreed. "But Daemon has a complicated way of doing things -- and Rhaenyra is going to have to reckon with that."
D'Arcy shared with ET at the season 2 premiere that they see Daemon and Rhaenyra as sharing a "fundamental flaw" that affects their ability to communicate with one another.
"We meet them both in a state of deep grief," they shared of where the couple is at the start of the second season. "They're two bereaved people who really struggle to communicate... I think something about their dynamic means that they are not willing to show weakness to one another."
"This is a sort of fundamental flaw in their relationship -- they don't want to be seen to be weak," D'Arcy continued. "I think they're both quite shut down at the start of the [season]. They're sort of dislocated from one another and, yeah, it's gonna be bumpy."
Source Material
House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel, Fire & Blood, which is a history book recounting notable events in Westeros in the 200 years before the original series. HOTD will continue to explore the in-fighting and intrigue surrounding House Targaryen in its upcoming episodes.
"We have the advantage that the book is here, it's finished, and we know where the curtain closes on this particular chapter in the Targaryen history," Condal told Variety, suggesting that show writers don't plan to stray too far from the source material.
However, when he spoke to ET on the red carpet at the season 2 premiere, Condal clarified that they've had to take some creative license, given the nature of the source material.
"We're being true to the story that's written in the book. I think there are different demands in the show, given that it's an adaptation of a history book," he explained. "But the plan is to faithfully render George's history as as it's been given in the text."
Returning Cast and Characters
After so many deaths in season 1, there are still a surprising number of major players returning for a second season. Among them are Rhaenyra (D'Arcy) and Daemon (Smith) and their blended family of children, Jacaerys and Joffrey Velaryon, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen as well as the recently-born twins Aegon and Viserys. Considering how young many of the kids are in season 1, the series may age them up again in coming seasons.
Then there's Queen Alicent (Cooke), her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), her children, Aegon (Glynn-Carney), Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Helaena (Phia Saban), and her loyal servant, Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). It's worth mentioning that Alicent's fourth child with Viserys, Daeron, will make an appearance on the series at some point despite not being mentioned or seen in season 1. According to Martin, who serves as an executive producer on the series, "their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season."
Of the remaining adult Velaryons, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and Corlys aka the Sea Snake (Steve Toussaint), will return despite so many losses to their family, including daughter Laena (Savannah Steyn) and son Laenor (John Macmillan) -- who was revealed to still be alive after Rhaenyra and Daemon arranged for his assassination so that they could get married. But despite being seen rowing away on a boat, much like Gendry Baratheon (Joe Dempsie) in Game of Thrones, it's unclear if and when he'll make a return to the series.
Additionally, other characters introduced in season 1, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), the Arryk Cargyll twins -- Arryk (Luke Tittensor) and Erryk (Elliott Tittensor) -- as well as Tyland and Jason Lannister (both played by Jefferson Hall), are all back for the new episodes.
As for those two Lannisters, expect more from them as the series progresses, with Hall previously revealing to ET that "this is a story about the Targaryens. And the Lannisters do play a strong role in it, but not from the offset." He asked for fans "to be patient as far as that’s concerned. Because they are introduced to the story… and they are supporting that story. That's not to say they don’t have a very strong, pivotal role within it as time goes on."
In April 2023, HBO confirmed that the returning cast members include Smith, Cooke, D’Arcy, Best, Toussaint, Frankel, Mitchell, Glynn-Carney, Mizuno and Ifans are all back as series regulars for season 2.
Additional returning cast members include Hall, Saban, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell and Matthew Needham.
New Cast and Characters
As for new cast members, ET previously confirmed that Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin and Abubakar Salim have joined the sprawling ensemble.
Beale will play Ser Simon Strong, the Castellan of Harrenhal and great-uncle to Lord Larys (Needham), sharing many scenes with Daemon this season.
Fox has been added as Ser Gwayne Hightower, the Son of Otto Hightower and brother to Queen Alicent, as well as the uncle to King Aegon, Queen Helaena and Prince Aemond.
Additionally, Rankin will appear as Alys Rivers, a healer and resident of Harrenhal while Salim will play Alyn of Hull, a sailor in the Velaryon fleet who served in the Stepstones campaign.
Tom Taylor is also joining the season 2 cast as the series' first Stark. The actor plays Cregan Stark, the Lord of Winterfell during the time of the Dance of the Dragons, and the the great-great-great-great grandfather of Game of Thrones' Ned Stark (Sean Bean).
Collett, who plays Rhaenyra's eldest son, Jacaerys Velaryon, filmed scenes with Taylor at The Wall, when Jacaerys asks for Cregan's aid on the side of the Blacks, and told ET that he and his new castmate had "a lot of fun" on set.
"We went on holiday prior to filming that scene, so we really got close," he shared. "It made us look really good together in the scenes... It's surreal returning back to such an iconic place and I can't wait for the fans to see. I hope you've enjoyed what me and Tom have done."
As for Elizabeth Olsen, the actress addressed rumors that she is headed to Westeros by telling ET, "Dream casting is fun, yeah, but I heard it was, like, announced though, which is weirder... I never heard of such a thing."
That being said, Olsen would be happy to be a part of it if something came up. "I mean, sure, yeah. [I'd like do to] anything that's worth telling, that's a good story, that's innovative, that's great, great characters," she offered.
Return and Premiere Date
HBO announced on April 11, 2023 that filming had officially commenced at Leavesden Studios in the U.K., with Condal sharing, "House of the Dragon has returned... All your favorite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies, and riding their dragons into battle. We can't wait to share what we have in store."
While there were hopes for another 10-episode season, ET has since learned that season 2 will consist of eight episodes simply because of what the story merited.
HBO announced in March that the show will return on June 16, 2024.
The Trailers
Watch the full-length trailer here:
The Green Trailer here:
And the Black Trailer here:
House of the Dragon season 1 is now streaming on Max. Season 2 premieres Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m. PT/ET on HBO and streaming on Max.
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