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‘House of the Dragon’ returns in June. Everything to remember from Season 1 

Here’s what to expect from the Blacks and the Greens.
/ Source: TODAY

Warning: This article discusses characters and plotlines through the first season of “House of the Dragon.”

The first season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” ended with a bang in 2022, as the Dance of the Dragons claimed its first major victims, signaling a point of no return in the civil war between the Blacks and the Greens of the Targaryen family.

Season Two of “House of the Dragon” will continue that story with its June 16 premiere, HBO announced March 21.

The network released "dueling" trailers reflecting the opposing perspectives of Aegon and Rhaenyra's camps, promising a brutal war among the royal family.

Here's everything to know about "House of the Dragon" Season Two — and what to remember from that stunning Season One finale.

Which cast members will return for the second season?

Fans can expect to see Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans return for Season Two.

Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham will be among the other returning cast members.

What happened in Season One of 'House of the Dragon'?

“The Black Queen,” which drew in the biggest finale audience for an HBO series since “Game of Thrones” wrapped up in May 2019, ended with Aemond Targaryen meeting Lucerys Velaryon at Storm’s End in a race to gain allies ahead of a clash.

After Aemond demands a literal eye for an eye from his nephew, who had previously blinded him, an indoor skirmish turns into an aerial battle between Luke’s dragon, Arrax, and the largest dragon in the world, Vhagar. 

As both dragons disobey their riders, Luke and Arrax pay the ultimate price. It’s gory and heartbreaking to see Vhagar’s giant jaws clamp down on her prey, with Arrax’s lifeless wings and remains falling through the clouds below. What is perhaps even more surprising is Aemond’s reaction: He looks — perhaps for the first time in his life — troubled by what he has done. 

HBO

Ryan J. Condal, series co-creator and showrunner, describes the moment after Luke’s and Arrax’s deaths as “the last vestiges of the little boy that’s left in Aemond” in HBO’s “Inside the Episode.”

“Maybe he was trying to scare Luke, but I don’t think ultimately he intended to kill him,” he says. “But now he’s done it, and he has to decide whether or not he’s going to own it in his travel back to King’s Landing.”

What are the Blacks' and the Greens' next steps?

Aemond, the kinslayer
Aemond, the kinslayerHBO

At the end of the finale, Aemond the kinslayer presumably flies back to King’s Landing to deliver the bad news to the Greens, who have been consolidating power among the lords. Their best defense lies with the symbols of legitimacy for Aegon’s rule, including his public coronation by the High Septon. The Greens also have the power of the treasury, more men and arms, and access to the Lannisters’ resources in the west.

On the other side, it’s surprising to see Team Black caught so flat-footed amid this unsurprising turn of events. After learning the news, Daemon plans to visit the Riverlands to get the Tullys’ support and then take over Harrenhal, the centrally located but cursed castle whose lord is now Larys Strong (aka Littlefeet?). Jace is sent to solidify alliances with the Starks of Winterfell and the men of the north. 

Meanwhile, Corlys, the Sea Snake, reveals the past years spent fighting the Triarchy have not been in vain, as he and his fleet have built a garrison at the Stepstones and now control the Narrow Sea. That means the Blacks can create a total blockade of the shipping lanes and cut off all trade and travel to King’s Landing. Rhaenys flies out on Meleys to patrol the area called the Gullet, with the idea that they can force a surrender after isolating the city and attacking the Red Keep. 

Those were the plans at least before Rhaenyra learned about Lucerys’ death. Judging from the look on her face in the closing moments of the finale, a quest for vengeance will be high on her list in the coming season.

This brings us back to Larys' blunt assessment of the world and people's motivations: "What are children but a weakness?"

What’s in store for the dragons?

The battle over Storm's End.
The battle over Storm's End.HBO

“House of the Dragon” has been foreshadowing the fate of the dragons from the beginning. In the first episode, Viserys warns young Rhaenyra about their strength. “The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion,” he says. “They’re a power man should never have trifled with — one that brought Valyria its doom.”

This is paid off in the finale’s fight scene between Aemond/Vhagar and Lucerys/Arrax, when both dragonriders lose control of their mounts. After Arrax outmaneuvers the much-larger Vhagar, instead of flying away to safety, he doubles back and breathes fire at his opponent. “Serve me!” both dragonriders cry to no avail.

“There is a sentience to them, and that’s why we don’t control them with whips and chains and things,” Condal told the official “House of the Dragon” podcast this week. “They’re gods that we are in control of to a degree.”

Treating these weapons of mass destruction with restraint and respect is a practice that appears to have been forgotten during Viserys’ peaceful reign. We have chaos agents Daemon and Aemond on opposite sides ready to take action. (Here’s the current tally of dragons for the Blacks and the Greens.)

“Dreams didn’t make us kings,” Daemon tells Rhaenyra. “Dragons did.” Later on, he boldly declares that he’d “rather feed my sons to the dragons” than have them serve Aegon II as king — a declaration that partly bears fruit in the same episode. 

Another statement that comes true? “Dragons can kill dragons, and have," Daemon says.

The Dance of the Dragons is also known as the Dying of the Dragons. “Game of Thrones” fans know that these creatures are thought to no longer exist at the beginning of the series, so whatever happens during this civil war spells bad news for the dragons.

Who will ride all the unclaimed/wild dragons?

Daemon and his dragon, Caraxes.
Daemon and his dragon, Caraxes.HBO

In the finale, Daemon mentions the unclaimed dragons Seasmoke, Vermithor and Silverwing who dwell on the Dragonmont, the volcano on the island of Dragonstone. He also talks about three other wild dragons, plus “a score of eggs” he has incubating. 

Later on, we see Daemon singing what sounds like a lullaby in High Valyrian (check out the words here from “Thrones” linguistics specialist David J. Peterson) while approaching a ginormous dragon in the darkness. This is Vermithor, aka the Bronze Fury, who is the second-largest dragon alive; his previous rider was King Jahaerys. 

Daemon seems to be getting Vermithor re-acclimated to humans in an attempt to boost the Blacks' arsenal, but this presents another challenge: Who will ride these additional dragons?

Even though Team Black has a number of accessible dragons, they don’t have enough dragonriders. Rhaena is one candidate, but anyone with Targaryen blood has a shot at becoming one. We’ve already seen one Targaryen bastard in King’s Landing, so it’s not hard to imagine more coming out of the woodwork soon.

Which of Helaena’s prophecies will come true next?

Ollie Upton / HBO

In the ninth episode, we saw a very agitated Helaena at her husband's coronation. Her prophecy of the “beast beneath the boards” has now been repeated twice and seems to cause her the most grief.

Look for signs of that — along with any of the underground, shadowy players reappearing (cue Larys and Mysaria) — next season.

What about a Song of Ice and Fire?

Viserys shared the prophecy with young Rhaenyra.
Viserys shared the prophecy with young Rhaenyra.HBO

Tension mounts between Rhaenyra and Daemon in the finale as they spar over strategy; Daemon has been waiting for war his entire life while Rhaenyra understands something much greater is at stake. 

“You know my oath reaches beyond our personal ambitions,” she tells him, right before — in a shocking move — he starts to choke her. Rhaenyra realizes that Viserys never shared with Daemon the prophecy of Aegon the Conqueror about the future Targaryen savior who would unite the realm against the darkness to come. 

So does the secret get passed on? 

Here’s what Condal says on the matter:

As far as we know, Rhaenyra has not yet shared it with Jace, who would be heir immediately upon Viserys’ passing and her own ascension. So it’s definitely going to play a role in this story moving ahead. Because it is the thing that uniquely Rhaenyra is going to wrestle with that the other side — simply they don’t have the knowledge, thus they can’t be burdened by at the moment.

Clearly, by the time “Thrones” rolls around, only whispers of the prophecy float about, and nobody truly understands what it means. Did the chain of knowledge stop with Rhaenyra? (Given how unstable Westerosi succession is, it's a terrible idea to reserve this critical knowledge to what amounts to a game of telephone spanning generations.)

Will 'House of the Dragon' strictly follow the book?

HBO

The "books versus the show" became a tiresome debate when “Game of Thrones” originally aired. But “Fire & Blood,” the book by George R.R. Martin on which “House of the Dragon” is based, is written in a different style, taking the form of a history book written mostly by people who did not live through those times.

Condal says that Martin drew inspiration from the history of the Bible. “The most current gospel was written some 30-40 years after Jesus’ death,” he told the “House of the Dragon” podcast. “The book is a document that got some things right and got some things wrong.”

The show, meanwhile, is meant to be a “version of the objective truth,” he said.

“The book is a history book; it’s written by all men,” Condal said. “There’s a septon of the faith involved with it. Most of them are, if not Green supporters, they are Green leaning. History itself is a piece of propaganda. Oftentimes I think this book is no different. And that is the sort of thematic approach we’ve taken.”

Still, he said there’s “truth weaved through the book.” And the TV show’s narrative offers a chance to listen in on private conversations, get different interpretations of events and explore characters more deeply. Even Martin expressed awe over Paddy Considine’s portrayal of Viserys, writing on his blog that it was “more powerful and tragic and fully-fleshed than my own version in Fire & Blood” and that he was “half tempted to go back and rip up those chapters and rewrite the whole history of his reign.”

“That’s why I think they co-exist quite nicely,” Condal said.

Which side is 'right,' the Blacks or the Greens?

Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy
Olivia Cooke as Alicent and Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra in "House of The Dragon."HBO

We’re only one season deep in a show that’s projected to last at least four seasons, but many viewers have declared their allegiances. Our own TODAY poll with nearly 10,000 votes shows a large majority are on Team Black.

But don’t expect that sentiment to remain unchanged, according to Condal.

“I don’t know that Alicent and her ilk are very popular at this very moment,” he said, while later describing with a chuckle the story’s “peaks and valleys and movements — and there are many to come.”

“I think people will think that they’re going one way, and they’re also going to say, ‘Oh no, I’m completely off of this’ — or just come to the conclusion that I can’t support either side of this. I just want them to all stop fighting. Please stop the madness.”

Random musings

Erryk — or Arryk?
Erryk — or Arryk?HBO

After signing off for Season One and raising a Negroni Sbagliato with prosecco, we pondered these points:

  • When will the ol' Arryk/Erryk switcheroo take place?
  • How will the “power comes from the people” motif they’ve been hyping all season play out?
  • Was there really no one else available for the Hand of the king job in the entire Seven Kingdoms other than Otto Hightower — again — after having been fired once?
  • Will Mysaria come back with the same distracting accent next season? Or will they ditch it a la the Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
  • Is Criston Cole this show’s version of the Mountain, aka Gregor Cleganne from “Game of Thrones”?
  • Dark Sister is clearly the best name out of all the Valyrian blades.