Both House Targaryen and House Hightower ready themselves for an all-out war after a controversial death in the second episode of House of the Dragon Season 2.
The first season ended with the shocking death of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’arcy) son Lucerys “Luke” Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) and his dragon Arrax from Aemond Targaryen’s (Ewan Mitchell) dragon Vhagar, who killed Luke on his own without being ordered to do so from Aemond.
That death set the stage for the Civil War in Westeros, which took a brutal turn in last week’s Season 2 premiere that exacerbated the inevitable war.
Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) – acting on his own and not at the behest of Queen Rhaenyra – ordered for Aemond to be killed, hiring two assassins to enter the Red Keep, under the guise of being ratcatchers.
While they couldn’t find Aemond… they did find Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and her twin heirs to King Aegon II Targaryen’s (Tom Glynn-Carney)’s Iron Throne… brutally slaughtering the son Jaehaerys.
Both House Targaryen and House Hightower ready themselves for an all-out war after a controversial death in the second episode of House of the Dragon Season 2.
While they couldn’t find Aemond… they did find Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and her twin heirs to King Aegon II Targaryen’s (Tom Glynn-Carney)’s Iron Throne… brutally slaughtering the son Jaehaerys
The new episode begins with the bloody bedding being taken after the slaughter of the King’s son, as the Red Keep is in chaos.
The King screams, ‘I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all! as his handlers try to calm him down, though he screams, ‘This is war! I declare war!’
Aemond – the true target of the hit – is seen walking through the Red Keep, sporting his eyepatch, hiding his disfigured left eye.
He reaches under a table and pulls out a gold coin, while Alicent Hightower is told by her father Otto that the gates have been shut and the killer will be found.
Alicent says, ‘The child. -The child is dead. His pain is ended. But what they’ve done to my girl.’
Otto says they will mourn but there is a chance that some good could still come of this treachery.
King Aegon II screams that the son is his legacy, as Lord Larys comes in and says someone has been detained carrying the child’s head.
The series is set 200 years before the events that unfolded in HBO’s flagship series Game of Thrones, and 100 years into the rule of House Targaryen over Westeros
The trailer for this new episode showed how furious Aegon II was after the killing of his son, fervently declaring war on Rhaenyra.
However, Rhaenyra was just as upset with Daemon as Aegon II was, saying she can’t trust him and now he’s weakened her right to the Iron Throne.
The series is set 200 years before the events that unfolded in HBO’s flagship series Game of Thrones, and 100 years into the rule of House Targaryen over Westeros.
By the end of Season 1, King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) had died, with his only son, Aegon II, taking claim to the Iron Throne.
Rhaenyra felt that she had a right to the throne, as House Targaryen became divided between factions led by Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Rhaenyra’s former best friend and wife of King Viserys.
The Season 2 premiere suffered a bit of a ratings hit, with 7.8 million viewers tuning in last week through all platforms.
That number was a 22% drop from the 10 million viewers that tuned in for the series premiere back in August 2022.
The drop was attributed to linear viewing, those who watched the episode live on HBO, which was 1 million fewer than the series premiere.
However, Rhaenyra was just as upset with Daemon as Aegon II was, saying she can’t trust him and now he’s weakened her right to the Iron Throne
The second episode of Season 1 actually increased to 10.2 million, representing a series peak, with 9.3 million viewers watching the Season 1 finale
Last Sunday’s season two debut was penned by showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of Game of Thrones, as well as HBO staples such as Boardwalk Empire, Sex and the City, The Sopranos and its prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark
Rhaenyra felt that she had a right to the throne, as House Targaryen became divided between factions led by Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Rhaenyra’s former best friend and wife of King Viserys
The second episode of Season 1 actually increased to 10.2 million, representing a series peak, with 9.3 million viewers watching the Season 1 finale.
Last Sunday’s season two debut was penned by showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of Game of Thrones, as well as HBO staples such as Boardwalk Empire, Sex and the City, The Sopranos and its prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.
The show’s second season kicked off with a revised opening titles sequence that was noticeably different than the one broadcast in the show’s first season.
The first season of House of the Dragon featured an animated opening that incorporated Old Valyria in a stone model, as it had been presided over by the late King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). It included red blood streaming through Valyria’s streets, with symbolism alluding to the Targaryen leaders.
