Ain’t got your fix o’ Targaryen content yet? The dragon riders are coming back with a fire in their bellies. Following the success of the first season, both ratings-wise and Emmy nominations-wise, the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon was renewed for a second season, which, it was revealed on November 2, is set to debut on June 16. The series is based on the Fire & Blood series by George R.R. Martin, and shows what happened 200 years before Dany did … all that. “We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with season one,†said Francesca Orsi, the executive VP of HBO Programming in a press release. “Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.†We look forward to more creepy little blonde kids and more ferocious dragons, but still wish the names “Princess Rhaenyra†and “Princess Rhaenys†were a little easier to differentiate. Below, everything we know about the dragons, the houses, and the Blonde family fighting each other to control it all.
Do we have a trailer?
Three, actually. Maintaining white hair is a full-time job and that’s on top of the Targaryen duty to be “a protector of the realm.†While the humans have petty disputes over power, the dragons are soaring through the sky, burning obstacles in their path, outpacing horses with ease, and practically eclipsing the sun with their sheer size. Yeah, we’re on their team.
Previously, on March 21, HBO dropped two separate trailers, one Team Black trailer, associated with Queen Rhaenyra, and one Team Green, for King Aegon. Are you Team Black or Team Green? Personally, we’re simply Team Mess, and, on this show, we always come out on top. The trailers have everything you’d want from this franchise: palace intrigue, violence, dragons, and a little king who happily smirks and says, “To war then!â€
Who’s in the cast?
To help you keep up with all the Targaryens after almost a year away, here’s a refresher on the fam. Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen), Emma D’Arcy (Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen), Eve Best (Princess Rhaenys Targaryen), Ewan Mitchell (Prince Aemond Targaryen), and Tom Glynn-Carney (King Aegon II Targaryen) are all presumably battling it out with each other over the course of next season. As for the (mostly) non-blondes, Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys Velaryon), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole), Olivia Cooke (Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower), Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria), and Rhys Ifans (Ser Otto Hightower) are back for more fiery drama.
New cast members include Clinton Liberty (Addam of Hull), Jamie Kenna (Ser Alfred Broome), Kieran Bew (Hugh), Tom Bennett (Ulf), Tom Taylor (Lord Cregan Stark), Vincent Regan (Ser Rickard Thorne), Abubakar Salim (Alyn of Hull), Gayle Rankin (Alys Rivers), Freddie Fox (Ser Gwayne Hightower), and Simon Russell Beale (Ser Simon Strong). It goes without saying that dragons will also be back.
How many episodes will there be?
Deadline reports that there will be eight episodes for the second season; however, Max has not confirmed this.
How does this season differ from the first?
“Season one was setting the table for a very bloody feast to come,†series co-creator Ryan Condol told Entertainment Weekly after the season-one finale on October 23. “I’m really interested in picking up with all of those characters that we spent all of this time introducing, particularly Rhaenyra’s and Alicent’s families, and seeing what happens now that we’ve flipped the chessboard over and spilled the pieces on the ground.†Okay, metaphor! Also, while season one was decidedly un-Thrones-ian in its specific focus on one group of people, season two “does fall into that ensemble piece where you’re following multiple characters,†Condol says. “They’re not all in the same place, but this is still very much a story of Alicent and Rhaenyra and their families pitted against each other. We’re not gonna suddenly pull away from telling their stories. It’s just the nature of this thing; in season two, it really opens up the world in a big way and the sprawl grows quite a bit.†Sounds House of the Dragon is becoming Mansion of the Dragon.
When’s the release date?
The dragons are let loose June 16, 2024.
This post has been updated.