Thank goodness that House of the Dragon did not disappoint. The prequel series took off like a lithe and speedy young fire breather before adding layers to the story that eventually spawned the Targaryen civil war gearing up in King’s Landing and Dragonstone by those under the Black and Green labels. HBO decided early on that four seasons would be the ideal length to tell this story (although another Westeros series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is waiting in the wings), and now, the time will soon come for the second season based upon George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood book.
Considering all of the excitement at hand, it’s almost as if that final Game of Thrones season never happened. Actually, let’s pretend that this is the case and talk about the upcoming Dance of the Dragons, which follows in the wake of King Viserys‘ not-so-great decisions during his reign. As well, some new characters have been announced to arrive in Season 2, and they will help carry out this war between Team Black (those on the side of Queen Rhaenyra), and Team Green (those on the Hightower side of the feud and led by Queen Alicent and Otto Hightower).
As the show begins to wind down post-production, let’s talk about the information out there so far:
Plot
“Dance of the Dragons” is actually a label that GRRM drags a little bit in the Fire and Blood book and something apparently dreamed up by Westeros residents who observed the giant creatures flying above. Granted, they had to live to tell about it first, and much of the second season should involve a chess board of the Teams Black and Green plotting out which cities and houses they can rally to their side, even if they need to do so by torching half a population.
Naturally, there will be whispers in ears that influence the decision makers, and mistakes shall be made. Before now, the biggest split-second mistake happened to be Aemond’s decision to scare the hell out of Luc, which ended with Arrax being torn in half by Vhagar. Speaking of which, she’s still kicking, but Daemon might be riding Vermithor (seen below) in addition to Ceraxes.
Granted, Vhagar is still the oldest dragon and therefore the biggest. Also unpredictable. I wouldn’t want to see this saliva coming my way.
From there, expect to meet many additional dragons, including perhaps Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, and Cannibal. In Driftmark, Seasmoke remains unclaimed at the moment, but all four of these dragons would presumably aid Team Black, so we’ll have to hang tight and see if that’s the case. Even without these four dragons onboard, Team Black’s fire breathers outnumber those of Team Green, but they still have Vhagar.
There’s also no telling how far into the war that Season 2 will progress (gotta save more for later), but we will see King Aegon II attempt to settle into his role as well. As you no doubt recall, he wasn’t exactly into the idea of ruling over the Seven Kingdoms until that roaring applause greeted his coronation in the Dragonpit. Of course, Rhaenys took that news to Rhaenyra, and coupled with Luc’s death, it. is. on. In the book, Daemon ends up doing much of the early traveling/recruiting by fire while Rhaenyra recovers from grief (on multiple fronts), so we shall see if the show matches up to that plot point.
Cast
HBO recently announced four key characters (and their actors) arriving in Season 2:
– Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), who is a healer and a prolific wet nurse who resides in Harrenhal, one of the first castles who yield to Team Black during the Fire and Blood book.
– Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale), who is not only the Castellan of Harrenhal but also an uncle to Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), he of the foot fetish.
– Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), an intriguing figure in Team Green, given that he’s Otto Hightower’s son, Alicent’s brother, and King Aegon II’s uncle.
– Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), a Velaryon fleet sailor who did the thing during the Stepstones campaign.
Returning cast members (to swap parentheses usage at this point) include Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen), Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen), Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen), Steve Toussaint (Corlys “Sea Snake” Valaryon), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole the terrible), Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria/that White Worm), and Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower).
Unfortunately, we cannot expect to see Paddy Considine unless they decide to put King Viserys into zombie form.
Release Date
House of the Dragon Season 2 was already filming when the writers’ strike began with scripts already locked. Additionally, the European-set film production was not affected by the actors’ strike either, so the set schedule proceeded as planned, and that meant that the show will stick with its early Summer 2024 release date. For a show with such enormous scope and tons of special effects along with battle scenes and armies in addition to a sprawling ensemble cast, less than two years could be considered miraculous under normal circumstances. In a time of Hollywood strife, it’s almost unbelievable.
Trailer
HBO is keeping footage close to its sleeve at the moment. Surely, there are a ton of CGI effects to be added for fire and dragons and son on. Beware of all the fake/fan versions on YouTube, and for a refresher (while we await a trailer and in case you ever stumble upon a dragon), here is young Aemond showing us how to claim Vhagar. Quick, brush up on that High Valyrian!
HBO’s first ‘House of the Dragon’ season can currently be streamed on Max.