What to expect from House of the Dragon season two

After a long wait, House of the Dragon fans are finally heading back to Westeros – where all hell is about to break loose.

WARNING: House of the Dragon season one spoilers ahead

It’s been more than 18 months since we caught up with the gang from Westeros, but Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is about to finally make its long-awaited return, bringing with it a whole lot more fire, blood, blonde wigs and – of course – dragons.

The HBO fantasy follows GoT’s Daenerys Targaryen’s ancestors as they face off in a civil war, roughly 200 years before the events of Jon Snow and co. Season one was a massive hit, attracting around 29 million viewers each week following its August 2022 premiere.

Unlike its successor, which relied on its writers to craft the final plot as George R. R. Martin hadn’t yet finished the source material, HOTD is based on his completed novel, Fire & Blood – so the basic storyline is already out there in the universe.

When it comes to the screen adaptation, plenty of mystery remains about how exactly the story of the Targaryen battle, aka the Dance of the Dragons, will play out in each instalment – including what will be in the upcoming season, arriving on Foxtel and Binge on June 17.

But with season one already complete and two teasers for the next chapter having been released, fans have some clues as to what’s to come across what will reportedly be eight episodes.

Hint: things are getting even more fiery.

“You’re going to meet five new dragons,” HOTD showrunner Ryan Condal promised fans at an LA screening last year.

Prepare for more dragons in season two. Picture: Binge/Foxtel

Speaking to News Corp Australia ahead of the season two premiere, Condal detailed the mammoth production, which featured a whopping 270 shoot days (twice the number of the average Marvel blockbuster), 9000 extras and 125 litres of fake blood.

While HBO is yet to confirm season three, the team is already crafting how the story could next unfold.

“We’re in the phase of, you know, writing now on season three just so we are ready if we are lucky enough to be picked up,” Condal said.

“Game of Thrones on the whole, I think, is a modern political intrigue that’s dressed up in mediaeval clothing and I think that’s always appealed to people.

“Yes there are dragons and the undead and skinchangers and fire magic and all the stuff you know from the original series - and people love those fantastical elements.

“But I think it’s the modern sort of, I would call it the adult brush the drama is painted in with, that gets into the political intrigue that’s going on and the high thinking of these characters as they scheme against one another.

“I think the thing that’s most sort of relevant for our series, for our existence in this world is the role of women in power in a patriarchal society.”

In case you need a refresher: season one saw the battle lines drawn between the “Blacks”, consisting of Rhaenyra Targaryen and her husband/uncle Daemon Targaryen, Princess Rhaenys, members of House Velaryon (and their massive navy force) and, crucially, their pack of dragons.

On the other side of the family squabble is the “Greens” – featuring the King’s Landing crew, including newly-crowned King Aegon II (Rhaenyra’s half-brother), his wife/sister, Queen Helaena, Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, her scheming dad, Otto Hightower, Prince Aemond, and Vhagar, who happens to be the largest dragon in the world.

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower. Picture: Binge/Foxtel

The trailers put a spotlight on the two relationships at the core of the series - Rhaenyra and Daemon’s and Rhaenyra and her former BFF-turned-mortal enemy, Alicent.

Neither appear to be faring particularly well.

Rhaenyra is questioning whether her husband even supports her claim to the throne, and Daemon feels “unaccepted” by her - and they’re both still struggling with the traumatic death of King Viserys.

“I think they can’t unburden themselves from this shadow. The way Viserys died was so horrendous, and they were next to him seeing him decompose. It’s uncomfortable for them both,” actor Matt Smith said, who plays Daemon, told A.V. Club.

“I believe there is a deep sense of love that is challenged and tested in season two. He also feels unaccepted by her, and reacts as Daemon reacts.”

Back in season one, the first death in the civil war was that of Rhaenyra’s young son, Luke, at the hands of Alicent’s son Aemond, in a devastatingly shocking scene during the finale.

Needless to say, the innocent teenager’s death was not well-received by his mum, setting the stage for what will undoubtedly be a revenge-fuelled war to pull us through season two.

Understandably, Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy) does not take her son’s death well. Picture: Binge/Foxtel

“The moment that she receives the news of Luke’s passing, that attempt at mediation crumbles,” actress Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra in the series, told Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming episodes.

“I don’t think there is any longer the bandwidth to suppress and repress her nature … I am excited to discover what happens when Rhaenyra does less navigating and more acting on her instincts and desires.

“For so many very legitimate reasons, she has her hands tied practically throughout season one. I have a feeling that the rein might be off for season two.”

Meanwhile, one of D’Arcy’s on-screen enemies, Tom Glynn-Carney – King Aegon II in the series – dropped his own hints about the impending conflict.

“He’s put this new skin on now that he’s king, he’s walking a little taller,” Glynn-Carney told News Corp Australia.

However, he is a Targaryen king - so the streak of insanity persists.

“He is volatile, he’s catatonic he’s just fizzing inside constantly,” Glynn-Carney said.

“Me and Aegon are very different, thank god. His internal rhyme is very quick, he’s kind of insatiable in that sense. I find that very tiring - I have to have a lot of sleep to keep up with him.

“He’s a bull in a china shop. He’s completely free and explosive.”

Actor Tom Glynn-Carney, aka King Aegon II, said season two was “strenuous”. Picture: Binge/Foxtel

So which fan favourites will be returning for the next chapter of Westorisi history?

It appears likely that all the main players, perfectly poised to face off on the battlefield (or in the skies, as the case may be) will be back to tell their stories.

However, it’s been confirmed that the season one time jumps, which saw Aussie actress Milly Alcock as a young Rhaenyra, are finished.

“We are thrilled to be shooting again with members of our original family as well as new talents on both sides of the camera,” Condal told The Hollywood Reporter.

“All your favourite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies and riding their dragons into battle. We can’t wait to share what we have in store.”

House of the Dragon season two will premiere June 17 on Foxtel and Binge.*

*Foxtel and Binge are majority owned by News Corp, publisher of this website

Originally published as What to expect from House of the Dragon season two