“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin — and no war so bloody as a war between dragons.” In the first-look teaser for House of the Dragon season 2, which premieres on HBO next summer, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) issues this warning.
Fans gathering in Brazil for the CCXP event on Saturday were taken aback by the new footage from the intense Game of Thrones prequel series. By confirming a number of performers who will portray well-known book characters from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, HBO enhanced the reveal.
Tom Bennett (David Brent: Life on the Road) will play Ulf; Vincent Regan (One Piece) will play Ser Rickard Thorne; Tom Taylor (The Dark Tower) will play the highly anticipated role of Lord Cregan Stark; and Clinton Liberty (Normal People) will play Addam of Hull. Jamie Kenna (Children of Men) will play Ser Alfred Broome. Kieran Bew (Warrior) will play Hugh.
The teaser takes us to the melancholy aftermath of the pivotal season 1 finale, in which Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and young, kind Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) were engaged in a dragonback duel in the skies, resulting in the loss of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s child.
The trailer that was shown to the media in New York City for a 2024 lookahead presentation at the beginning of November is not the same one. The ash-stained face of Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), the legitimate queen of the Iron Throne, betrays her sorrow as she gazes thoughtfully at Dragonstone Castle. In the meantime, her husband/uncle, Matt Smith’s fiery Prince Daemon, appears prepared for retaliation wearing his military gear.
Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) declares, “The war will be fought, many will die, and the victor will eventually ascend the throne.”
Showrunner Ryan Condal’s House of the Dragon tells the story of the Dance of the Dragons, a bloody war that ravaged the once-mighty Targaryen Empire and lasted for years in Westeros history. Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), the grandson of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), seized the Westeros crown from his father, Hand of the King, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), and his allies in Season 1, setting the stage for the impending destruction. Aemond’s mount Vhagar’s jaws killing Lucerys was their “shot heard around the world.” The war can now start.
West of Westeros, the official Game of Thrones podcast from EW, returns for the off-season to analyze all the fresh information and footage available for the trailer and casting. Watch out for the upcoming episode, which premieres on Sunday.
