Overview
It took a mere one episode when House of the Dragon premiered for HBO to sign on for season two of the Game of Thrones prequel. That second season debuts on Monday, June 17, 2024 Down Under, but the US network behind the TV adaptations of George RR Martin's novels just can't wait to go all in on more battling Targaryens, already renewing the show for season three.
Yes, Succession may be over, but the fight for the Iron Throne between half-siblings Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney, Rogue Heroes) and Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy, Mothering Sunday) is sticking around for at least another batch of episodes after 2024's return to Westeros continues the story before the hit fantasy series everyone watched from 2011–19. Both figures want to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Both claim the famous seat as theirs. Both are destined for war: the Targaryen civil war between the green and the black camps known as the Dance of the Dragons.
"We are in awe of the dragon-sized effort the entire team has put into the creation of a spectacular season two, with a scope and scale that is only rivalled by its heart. We could not be more thrilled to continue the story of House Targaryen and watch this team burn bright again for season three," said Francesca Orsi, the Executive Vice President of HBO Programming, and Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, about the renewal.
There's no details yet on when season three of House of the Dragon will arrive — including if it'll be in winter in Australia and New Zealand, as has proven the case for both season one and two — but this account of flowing long blonde hair, carnage, fire, dragons, conflicting factions and fights for supremacy is nowhere near done yet.
When the show's season season premieres, it will arrive two years after the first debuted in 2022. If you haven't yet caught up with the series so far, which is based on Martin's Fire & Blood on the page, it dives into a prior battle for the Iron Throne. Paddy Considine (The Third Day) started the series King Viserys — and it's exactly who should be his heir that sparked all the fuss. The words "succession" and "successor" (and "heir" as well) got bandied around constantly, naturally. Also, Australian actors Milly Alcock and Ryan Corr were among the stars.
As this first Game of Thrones spinoff jumps back into House Targaryen's history, the initial season kicked off 172 years before the birth of Daenerys and her whole dragon-flying, nephew-dating, power-seeking story — and gave HBO its largest American audience for any new original series in its history when it debuted. If you're thinking that House of the Dragon is basically a case of new show, same squabbles, as it was easy to foresee it would be, you're right. It's pretty much Game of Thrones with different faces bearing now well-known surnames — and more dragons.
Game of Thrones was always going to spark spinoff shows. Indeed, when HBO started thinking about doing a prequel six years ago, before the huge fantasy hit had even finished its run, it was hardly surprising. And, when the US network kept adding ideas to its list — including a Jon Snow-focused series with Kit Harington (Eternals) reprising his famous role, novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg and an animated GoT show, to name just a few prequels and spinoffs that've been considered, but may or may not actually come to fruition — absolutely no one was astonished.
So far, just House of the Dragon has hit screens; however, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, the Dunk and Egg adaptation, is now due in 2025.
Also returning among the cast when House of the Dragon season two hits: Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses) as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith (Morbius) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Rhys Ifans (The King's Man) as Ser Otto Hightower, Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Rhaenys Targaryen and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, plus Fabien Frankel (The Serpent), Ewan Mitchell (Saltburn) and Sonoya Mizuno (Civil War).
HBO is also adding new faces to the mix, with Clinton Liberty (This Is Christmas) as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna (Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story) as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew (Warrior) as Hugh, Tom Bennett (Black Ops) as Ulf, Tom Taylor (Love at First Sight) as Lord Cregan Stark and Vincent Regan (One Piece) as Ser Rickard Thorne. They join Abubakar Salim (Napoleon) as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin (Perry Mason) as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox (The Great) as Ser Gwayne Hightower and Simon Russell Beale (Thor: Love and Thunder) as Ser Simon Strong among the season two newcomers.
Check out the full trailer for House of the Dragon season two below:
House of the Dragon streams Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand, with season two arriving on Monday, June 17, 2024. Season three doesn't yet have a release date. Read our review of season one.
Images: HBO.