War, fire, betrayal and blood: first review of House of the Dragon season two

House of the Dragon is roaring back with a new season, and bringing with it all the sex, violence, battles and betrayals that fans have come to expect.

The long-awaited second season of House of the Dragon is here at last and things are heating up in the world of Westeros.

And if the mantra of its parent show Game of Thrones was ‘winter is coming’, it’s very much a case of ‘war is coming’ as the Targaryen dynasty further fractures and threatens to tear the Seven Kingdoms apart as the rival claims to the Iron Throne press their cases.

It’s a slow burn for the start of the season as the pieces move around the board in this new game of thrones, but after the shocking, dragon-munching, child-killing finale of the first season, there is a foreboding sense from the very beginning that chaos and bloodshed are not far away.

The action picks up right where the first season left off (viewers would benefit from rewatching the last episode by way of a primer) with the Black faction, led by Emma D’Arcy’s would-be Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, rocked by the death of her son Lucerys and pondering payback for those responsible.

Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen in a scene from Season Two Episode One of House of the Dragon.

Her other son Jacaerys is rallying allies to her banner by heading north to Winterfell to get the ever-faithful and loyal Starks on board, while husband Prince Damon (Matt Smith) is secretly scheming bloody revenge (and potentially his own agenda) and the now recovered Lord Corlys Velaryon – aka the Sea Snake – has engineered a sea blockade of their enemies.

Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, the opposing Green forces are feeling the pinch of being cut off, and the foul-mouthed, self-centred, cruel Aegon II is finding out that being the king is not all it’s cracked up to be and starting to display attributes that make GoT’s King Joffrey look like a wise and just ruler. His mother, Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower is despairing at his increasingly erratic behaviour, especially after a shocking murder at the end of the first episode, and that of his gleefully evil, one-eyed brother Prince Aemond.

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower and Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen in a scene from Season Two Episode One of House of the Dragon.

In fact, on the whole it’s the women who largely act with thought, restraint and empathy – even as they follow their ambitions for themselves and their families – while the men are mostly reactive and impulsive, reckless and feckless in their thirst for revenge and power.

Fans of the first season – and GOT – will be pleased to know that with so much to explore in this ever-expanding world, all their favourite elements are still very much in play as the two side square off: sex, violence, scheming, betrayals and, yes, shocking twists and brutal killings.

And that’s not even counting the beasts that give the show its title, as beautifully and threateningly rendered as ever and flying around menacingly in the background just itching to be unleashed.

As the ancient Valyrian histories say “when dragons flew to war, everything burned”, so there will be fire – and there will be blood.

House of the Dragon Season Two streams on Binge from June 17, available through Hubbl.