House of the Dragon had no issue shaking off the final Game of Thrones season that disappointed plenty of viewers. Surely, the new show’s writers observed what story elements are good to avoid regarding the Targaryen gang, and a few strategic changes from George R.R. Martin‘s source material have surfaced in HotD already during the first season. Naturally, it was excellent news to learn that HBO swiftly greenlit a second season, so that we will be able to see Team Black and Team Green go to war after Aemond ^^^ unintentionally kicked the next phase of the Targaryen civil war off.
Irresistible jackass Aemond did so while erroneously believing that he could control Vhagar while taunting Luc and Arrax. As viewers witnessed, however, Vhagar refused to stop the aggression and made a tasty meal out of the smaller dragon and his rider. In the final scene of the season, Daemon informed Rhaenyra of this tragedy, and she reacted by putting on her game face. In other words: It. Is. On.
When will we see Season 2 happen? The Dance of the Dragons will get things started on the most fiery HotD foot, and we can expect this to happen in Summer 2024. That window has been confirmed by HBO, and even though this seems like a long wait, production hammered hard to deliver a faster turnaround than the final GoT seasons. We will keep our eyes open for a precise release date.
House of the Dragon is based upon the Fire and Blood novel, and Season 2 will pick up right after the midpoint of the book. That’s not relative to the pages covering Season 1. As readers know, Viserys and Daemon don’t become prominent figures until well over the 40% point. There’s a lot of Targaryen family history, after all, and fortunately, showrunner Ryan Condal (along with former co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik) guided the show right into the middle of the source material and pushed those dragons right into motion in an authentic way. Well, as authentic as CGI-adorned dragon stories can be.
The Season 2 premiere title, “A Son For A Son,” means that Aemond needs to watch himself. He’s on Team Green with the Hightower side of the family, and yes, he’s got the biggest dragon, but he is clearly out of his depth as a rider. King Viserys would be so disappointed, and at least he won’t have to suffer through watching Rhaenyra and Aegon II battling over the Iron Throne.