While the critics have already spoken about the overwhelmingly positive response to the upcoming season two of House of the Dragon, the rest of us have yet to weigh in. Before the premiere of season two on HBO | Max, let's talk about the details you might not remember from the first season that may be important in the second.
Since House of the Dragon is based on parts of George R.R. Martin's 2018 novel Fire & Blood, it's set a century after Aegon's Conquest and 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The series tells the story of the decline of the once all-powerful Targaryens that culminates in the succession war dubbed “Dance of the Dragons.”
So what started all of this?
The simple answer is succession. A more complicated answer, which lays the blame on the feet on one man, is that King Viserys (played by the excellent Paddy Considine in season one) just couldn't leave well enough alone. And by that I mean he wanted a son when he already had a viable heir in his own daughter, Rhaenyra (the younger played by future Supergirl Milly Allcock, the adult played by Emma D'Arcy).
When I said it was complicated, I truly mean that. It would be easy to just label Viserys as misogynistic (which in keeping with the time and the environment), I do understand why he wanted a son. In season one, he was portrayed as a good father to Rhaenyra but you also have to consider his own history and that of his older cousin Rhaenys (Eve Best).
Rhaenys was the only child of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen's oldest son and heir apparent, Prince Aemon. The council passed her over in favor of Viserys due to her gender. Viserys, on the other hand, was the oldest son of Jaehaerys' second son Prince Baelon.
So Viserys knew — due to precedence — that even if he called a council, they would most likely choose a male heir instead of his own direct descendant. At the time, the closest male heir was his own brother Daemon (Matt Smith) who he did not trust to rule. In fact, most of the Small Council didn't want him anywhere near any kind of power.
However, the way Viserys went about it was cruel and no matter how he tells Rhaenyra that her mother Aemma's (Sîan Brooke) death “is a wound that will never heal,” and that without her warmth, the Red Keep will never recover,” he was the one responsible for that. He was right, sure, but he was the one who made that happen.
Had he chosen to save Aemma, he would've still been married to her and Rhaenyra's claim would have been uncontested save for Daemon's. As kind, it was solely his decision to appoint an heir (which he did, but that's not the point here) and not call a council at all.
However, he wanted to try again. This time with Otto Hightower's (Rhys Ifans) daughter and Rhaenyra's best friend Alicent (the younger played by Emily Carey; the adult played by Olivia Cooke). He has Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Helaena (Phia Saban) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). There's a third, Daeron, but he didn't show up in season one and no word yet on whether he will in the next one.
Now that Viserys has sons, there are two more strong claimants to the throne, even though he already publicly named Rhaenyra as his heir and made her Princess of Dragonstone.
I'm not saying Viserys shouldn't have married. I understand the politics of this age or at least this tradition. There was a better choice than Alicent presented to him by his own cousin and her husband the wealthiest man in the realm, Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), their daughter Laena. Again, setting aside the admittedly distasteful practice of marrying young girls to old men, politically speaking this made more sense.
Lord Corlys was right in his reasoning that this marriage would strengthen House Targaryen. Not only will the Velaryons inject much needed wealth into the kingdom, they are also of Old Valyria. Even if Viserys had sons by Laena, with Rhaenyra marrying Laenor, she would have his family's support in her claim. Laena's children wouldn't usurp their own cousins' throne since Leanor has a good relationship with his own sister.
If you recall, in the early part of the second season, he wanted Rhaenyra to marry to strengthen her claim. There would have been no need for that if he did his part. Sure, as the future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, she would have had to marry and bear children to continue the line. However, he was the one who placed her claim in jeopardy when he married Alicent and she bore him sons. He knew full well what that would do to his own daughter. So yeah, this is his fault.
The Dance of the Dragons: Colors, sigils and crowns
Why are they called Team Green?
In season one, episode five, Alicent interrupts Viserys' wedding toast to Rhaenyra and Laenor (Theo Nate plays the younger; John Macmillan plays the adult) by walking into the hall in that infamous green dress. This is the first time she openly defies Viserys and the image of her in that green dress is what stuck to courtiers' minds.
Why are they called Team Black?
To be honest, I think it wouldn't have looked war-ish if Rhaenyra's side had chosen red even if the Targaryen sigil bore a red dragon. Can you imagine red vs. green? It would've called to mind Christmas. Instead Team Black chose the color that was the most prominent in the original Targaryen sigil. Also, Rhaenyra started wearing more black at Laena Velaryon's (Nanna Blondell) funeral. Before that, she was in cream, beige and gold.
The Targaryen Sigils
When Aegon was crowned king, he chose his own sigil, one with a gold dragon on black instead of the traditional red of House Targaryen. Presumably this is in honor of his golden dragon, Sunfyre, thought to be the most beautiful dragon in the world.
However, there's another reason for this aside from personalization or even vanity: it has practical applications. Since his coronation was the first shot in the upcoming Targaryen civil war, his banner being different from that of his house's traditional one, it makes it easier for his own followers to see which Targaryen they're fighting for.
Presumably, he believed his half-sister Rhaenyra would choose the original sigil. However, if the series follows the book, hers will bear the House Targaryen dragon along with the House Arryn's falcon and House Velaryon's seahorse.
The differences don't stop with just the colors and the sigils. There's also another symbol of their respective rules: their crowns.
While Aegon II may be name after Aegon the Conqueror and he wields his father Viserys' sword Blackfyre, he is crowned with Maegor the Cruel's crown. Interestingly enough, I wonder why Alicent didn't use his namesake's crown instead. Maybe a part of her understands what kind of ruler Aegon II is going to be.
With Rhaenyra's claim, she could also petition — or just outright take — that particular crown since it evokes her own ancestor's more positive feeling than Maegor's. However, maybe in a move to show continuity and to hammer the point that she was chosen by her father — the late king — as his successor, Rhaenyra's could end up with Viserys'. In the series, this crown was placed on the late king's body to be burned with him in his funeral pyre.
However, we don't see that. In the book, the crown in smuggled out King's Landing to Dragonstone by a Kingsguard, Ser Steffon Darklyn. This is what Daemon places on Rhaenyra's head for her own coronation, which may be what we will see in season two.
Was it just an accident?
One of season one's arguably most memorable moments is the battle between Aemond and and his dragon Vhagar and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) and his dragon Arrax. If you listened closely, Aemond kept screming “Dohaeris!” over and over. Game of Thrones fans know this word from the Essos phrase, “Valar dohaeris.” While it may not be as well-known as its counterpart, “Valar morghulis” which means “All men must die,” “Valar Dohaeris” means “All men must serve.”
In effect, Aemond was commanding Vhagar to obey him to do something, but not kill Luc or Arrax. And if you say, well, Luc was the first one to say it. Maybe Luc meant to attack. To that I say, “I don't think so.” If both of them had wanted fire, there's one word for that — and one neither of them said — dracarys. Neither did they say kill (srna or sena) or destroy (pryjātās).
But that's done and over with. What with the show being called House of the Dragon, we can't forget the actual dragons. Season one had nine dragons. According to showrunner Ryan Condal said there will be more introduced in the second — five more, in fact. There's Vermithor, to whom Daemon sang to. The dragon is King Jaehaerys I's (his grandfather) hundred-year-old dragon.
And then there are the clutch of Syrax's, Rhaenyra's dragon, eggs that he found. But will they be hatching in the second season? Unsure. For one, it takes a long time for these to hatch. With everything that's supposed to be going on in season two, there may not be time for any hatching onscreen.
The War of the Queens in the House of the Dragon
Going back to the ones calling the shots, let's start with Alicent. While some may paint Alicent as a victim here, I disagree. So does Rhaenys. At one point, she tells Alicent, “And yet you toil still in service to men. Your father, your husband, your son. You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison. Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?”
So no. The queen of the greens is not a victim here. While she may have started that way, with her father essentially ordering her to seduce Viserys so their family could have direct claim to the throne, afterwards she made her own choices — separate from her father's. As queen, she technically outranks him now even as he's Hand. Aegon is her son; she wields more influence — however little it is — over him compared to Otto. She could have still chose to have reason prevail.
But then that was made moot with Lucerys' death at essentially Aemond's hand. This is the son Alicent could conceivably control better than Aegon. However, he's run away from her influence now. All that's in Aemond's head is war — specifically a war against his uncle.
“My uncle is a challenge I welcome, if he dares face me,” he said with relish in the trailer.
Arrogance is definitely a Targaryen trait. Aemond is no battle strategist compared to his uncle who has decades on him not just in dragonback experience but in actual combat. This is the man who declared himself the King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea after battling the Tiarchy.
As for Rhaenyra, Viserys' rightful and legal heir, she's also a grieving mother. She's fighting for her legacy and for her family's safety. In a rumored deleted scene from the first season, Jace tells his mother as she's considering Team Green's terms, “Daemon wants to fight for us. I wonder, will you?”
She responds, “I will always fight for my family. This is not as simple as one or the other.”
Jace insists, “It could not be simpler. If you accept Aegon's terms, you will forfeit my life and Luc's and Joff's. If you do not claim the throne, we will be taken hostage or sent to the Wall or put to the sword. I do not know which fate will await us, but I do know they will call us bastards first.”
Rhaenyra disagrees, “Alicent gave her word that you would be treated kindly.”
While the X (formerly Twitter) user has deleted this post and the actual account, if it's real, I understand why this scene was deleted. In no world after their confrontation when Aemon lost his ye would Rhaenyra trust Alicent's word regarding anything. She wouldn't need any beseeching from her oldest son. While she didn't start out calling for war the way Daemon does, she also knows it's inevitable.
The Rogue Prince needs to shut up sometimes
Remember when Daemon told Otto on the bridge, “I would rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry shields and cups for your drunken usurper **** of a king”? That was tragically prophetic. Obviously, Luc isn't his biological son, but he's raised him with Rhaenyra for six years. And if you read the books, you probably didn't find that line as bad ass as it was intended with Matt Smith's biting cadence.
For all that the Rogue Prince seems to be the author's favorite character and he has been described as “the wonder and terror of his age” as well as “a man so admired, so beloved, and so reviled in all of Westeros,” all of that doesn't a great king make. I know how much the fans love him. It's hard not to. Smith has imbued him with the kind of personality and presence that seems to be both the actor's and the character's combined.
However, he is right where he should be: at Rhaenyra's side, which I believe he will be for most of the season unless Nettles comes into the picture. A theory that's been bandied about since the full trailer came out is that the season will diverge from the book in the sense that Daemon would most likely not cheat on Rhaenyra.
He will, most likely meet Aemond in the much-awaited Battle Above Gods Eye. As this is one of the most spectacular battles in the book, they may reserve this for the last episode. Another reason to support this is that in the book, Aemond falls into the sea and his body is recovered. While their dragons Vhagar and Caraxes die, Daemon's body is never found. This could, if the writers saw it fit, make a case for Daemon to return in the third season.
The Return of the fan-favorite Wolf of the North
Another favorite, even though he has not been fully seen by virtue of the House's popularity from Game of Thrones, is Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor), head of House Stark and Lord of Winterfell. The house is briefly mentioned at the end of season one when Daemon suggests that they turn to the families who swore allegiance to the Targaryens when Rhaenyra was name heir to the throne and Princess of Dragonstone.
Cregan Stark appears in the trailer briefly as Jace is sent to Winterfell to call for the Stark banners. He and Cregan develop a strong bond as Jace courts his favor for Team Black. Cregan, in turn, becomes a key player in the Dance of the Dragons.
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…
Maybe you've forgotten some of these and they may not end up being essential to the second season. But in the case that they may…
Remember how Viserys spoke about dreams? There was a scene where he spoke to Rhaenyra about Targaryen dreamers, of which Aegon the Conqueror was one. I believe this is who Viserys wanted to be. While he was the last Targaryen to have ever ridden the legendary Balerion the Dread, by the time we meet him in the show, he's no longer a dragon rider.
In contrast to most members of his family, save Helaena, all of whom claimed dragons and ride them more frequently, he was a sedentary king. I think he lived in what he calls dreams, but I would argue are delusions, of a son inheriting the Iron Throne. It's not because he didn't want Rhaenyra to succeed him. He wants that particular dream to come true. He wants to be the king who's guided by his dreams the way he thought Aegon was.
However, Daemon bursts that bubble what he said, “Dreams didn't make us kings; dragons did.” If he had claimed another dragon and ridden more, things may have turned out differently and we wouldn't have the dance. We also wouldn't have the book or the show.
But speaking of dreamers, it's Helaena who is. How much of that will help her in the show is still up in the air. Judging from the trailer and the appearance of Blood and Cheese, maybe not so much.
Will we see the Dragonpit destroyed in season two?
Maybe, but unlikely. We saw a glimpse of the structure in season one, episode nine when Meleys broke through the walls as she rode Meleys right into Aegon II's coronation. In the book, its destruction comes much later, which results in the deaths of several dragons.
When it was constructed at the start of King Maegor's reign, it was already controversial. The site was once where the Sept of Remembrance sat. When the religious order rose up against the throne, the king torched the sept to the ground using Balerion's fire. From its ruins, he had the Dragonpit built which took 10 years, a vast fortune and two kings' reigns to complete. It's also said to have been the reason the Targaryens' dragons stunted growth and near extinction.
What about Jacaerys and Baela?
In the first season, Jacaerys and Baela were betrothed and so were Lucerys and Rhaena. However, with Luc's death, Rhaena remains unmarried. However, Jace is sent to Winterfell alone — without Baela — so they most likely will not be married in season two. We will see Baela on dragonback with Moondancer. In the trailer, some have said that she was chasing Ser Criston Cole.
All of our questions will be answered when House of the Dragon season two premieres on HBO | Max June 16.
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