Overview
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 about to fill your streaming queue. Both want to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Both claim the famous seat as theirs. Both are destined for war — the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — when House of the Dragon returns for season two.
Fiery feuds are this show's baseline — this franchise's as well, since Game of Thrones was also full of them — so much so that when HBO last dropped a sneak peek at the upcoming second season, it did so with duelling trailers. Now, following the first teaser in late 2023 as well, the US network has followed with a full glimpse. Carnage, fire, dragons, conflicting factions, a trip to the north: they're all coming.
So is watching House of the Dragon season two in winter, which is when it will arrive. If you haven't already, mark Monday, June 17, 2024 in your diary. And while a clash of Targaryens awaits, Rhaenyra knows that the role of ruler isn't about power but stability. "The Targaryen who sits the Iron Throne is not just a king or a queen — they are a protector of the realm," she says to open the new trailer.
Also returning when the fray continues: 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.
When it premieres in June, House of the Dragon's second season will arrive two years after the first debuted in 2022. 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.
With House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones' first spinoff jumps back into House Targaryen's history. When it initially roared into streaming queues, it became an instant success. Accordingly, as it delivered more complicated GoT realm relationships, flowing long blonde hair, dragons, stabbings and fights for power — and plenty to fuel a drinking game, as we created — it was quickly renewed for season two.
The series 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.
If you haven't yet caught up with the show so far, it dives into the battle for the Iron Throne before the one we all watched between 2011–19. Paddy Considine (The Third Day) started the series King Viserys — and it's exactly who should be his heir that sparked all the Succession-style 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.
This latest adaptation of George RR Martin's popular fantasy books — based on Fire & Blood, specifically — is bound to continue on for more than just two seasons, but that's all that's confirmed for the moment.
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. Read our full review of season one.
Images: HBO.