House of the Dragon Season 2: Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Latest News, and More

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Lords and ladies of Westeros, we are quickly approaching the premiere date of House of the Dragon Season 2. The Game of Thrones prequel, based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, is about the Targaryen civil war that occurred almost 200 years before Robert Baratheon sat on the Iron Throne. Tensions are higher than ever between the Greens and the Blacks in Season 2, thanks to one specific she-dragon going rogue. And while many events from the HBO show's first season set up the family dynamics among the Targaryens, Season 2 looks like it'll bring us deeper into the action on the battlefield, on the seas, and in the air.

If you have questions about the next chapter of the Targaryen family feud, you're not alone. When will House of the Dragon Season 2 air? Who will be in it? How long will it be? Here's everything we know about House of the Dragon Season 2.

House of the Dragon Season 2 latest news

At House of the Dragon Season 2's press conference on June 3, showrunner Ryan Condal addressed author George R.R. Martin's involvement in the new season. "I do keep in contact with him," Condal said. "But I think now that we're kind of off to the races with the show and we've done a good job about rendering Fire & Blood into dramatic form, we're operating on our own now, in a good way." He emphasized that Martin, who co-created Season 1 with Condal, "always looms large in the background of House of the Dragon."

As for how Fire & Blood has informed performances in the series, the actors have taken different approaches. At the press conference, Steve Toussaint, who plays Corlys Velaryon, shared that he decided not to read the book. "What happens is you read the book and you go, 'Oh my god, my character does this, it's fantastic,'" Toussaint said. "And then Ryan goes, 'No, he's not gonna do that.' ... I didn't want to fall in love with what was on the page." 

Meanwhile, Ewan Mitchell — who will have a much larger role this season as Aemond Targaryen — told TV Guide he has read Fire & Blood and that it acted "like a bit of a Bible" for his performance. "We present the nuance and the motivations where that might not be present in the book," Mitchell shared. But the actor hasn't read all of it. "Where Season 2 ends, that's where I stopped," he said. "I want to save the rest for after that."

More:

• House of the Dragon Season 2 review: The Game of Thrones formula isn't fresh, but it's still effective
• House of the Dragon: What to remember before Season 2
  
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Everything to know about the Game of Thrones prequel

House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere date

House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on Sunday, June 16 at 9/8c on HBO and Max. 

What will House of the Dragon Season 2 be about?

At a press conference on June 3, the cast discussed what to expect in Season 2. "Grief is the great sort of catalyst of the season," said Matt Smith, who portrays Daemon Targaryen. "And I think that [for Daemon], everything is about the death of his brother, really." Smith was talking about Paddy Considine's Viserys Targaryen, whose passing in Season 1 is sure to have seismic effects across Westeros but also on those closest to him. Emma D'Arcy, who stars as Rhaenyra Targaryen — Viserys' only child and now Daemon's wife — said Viserys' death affects their character's relationship with her husband-uncle, Daemon. "I don't know that either of them are able to find solace with each other in the loss of Viserys," D'Arcy said. "I don't feel that Daemon can share his experience of losing his brother."

There's another death that must be addressed: that of Rhaenyra's son, Lucerys Targaryen (Elliot Grihault), who was killed in the Season 1 finale. "It felt like Vhagar killing Luke was a big sea change in the way things are going to be looked at," Condal said. "And then what are [the Blacks] going to [do] — what's the counterpunch?" From the trailers, it seems like the story will pick up shortly after the tragedy of Luke's death.

House of the Dragon Season 2 review

If you're looking for House of the Dragon to stick close to the Game of Thrones formula, you're in luck. In his review of Season 2, Liam Mathews writes that the series isn't reinventing itself — or the franchise — in its second season, but "in its best moments, it's still the grandest TV available." Read the full review here.

House of the Dragon Season 2 trailers

Just over a month before the season premiere, Max released a new trailer for Season 2 of House of the Dragon. "F--- dignity, I want revenge," Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) bellows in the clip, which may go down as the temperamental king's most famous line. If you can't get excited for Season 2 after this trailer, then maybe you just can't get excited.

On March 21, in conjunction with the release date announcement, HBO revealed dueling trailers for Season 2 that lean into the rivalry between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). (Go Team Green!) The two videos show the perspectives of Team Black (those behind Queen Rhaenyra) and Team Green (those behind King Aegon and Alicent) as the two sides battle for control of the Iron Throne. A third video was also released, teasing the two trailers. That's how big this show is, folks: It needs trailers for its trailers! 

All Must Choose teaser:

Team Green trailer:

Team Black trailer:

The official teaser for House of the Dragon Season 2 dropped in December 2023. The video begins with a forlorn Rhaenyra Targaryen, who's mourning the death of her son Luke. We then hear the chilling words of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) — "There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons" — as the Greens and the Blacks prepare to battle. Amid all the action in this video, we have to say the highlight is seeing Vhagar fly by. She is ginormous!

How many episodes will be in House of the Dragon Season 2?

It looks like House of the Dragon is already going the way of Game of Thrones in its later seasons. Well, in quantity, at least. Hopefully not in quality, too. In March 2023, Deadline reported that Season 2 will run for eight episodes, down a couple from the 10 episodes of Season 1, and HBO CEO Casey Bloys confirmed the episode count in November 2023. While some may rightfully point toward HBO's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery continuing to cut costs as a likely reason for the season shortening, reps from HBO insist that the decision was story driven. The silver lining here is that shortening Season 2 because of story also means that a Season 3 renewal is more likely, and that the series could run for four seasons to get through the source material.  

House of the Dragon Season 2 cast

Following several time jumps that saw characters age out of their actors, things should slow down as Season 2 focuses more on the Dance of the Dragons, otherwise known as the Targaryen civil war. We're also going to be introduced to a slew of characters. In April 2023, Variety reported that Gayle Rankin has been cast as Alys Rivers in House of the Dragon Season 2. According to George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Alys is known as the Witch Queen of Harrenhal and becomes a key figure among the Greens. In addition to Rankin, Simon Russell Beale was announced to play Ser Simon Strong, the great-uncle to Matthew Needham's Lord Larys Strong.

Meanwhile, Freddie Fox is set to star as Ser Gwayne Hightower, who is Queen Alicent Hightower's brother and Otto Hightower's (Rhys Ifans) son. Yes, that means he's also uncle to King Aegon, Queen Helaena (Phia Saban), and Prince Aemond. Also joining the cast is Abubakar Salim, who will play Alyn of Hull. Alyn is "a sailor in the Velaryon fleet who served in the Stepstones campaign," according to Variety.

HBO announced more Season 2 cast members in December 2023. They include Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.

Below are members of House of the Dragon's returning cast.

• Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen
  
• Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower
• Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen
• Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Harry Collett as Jacaerys Velaryon
• Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen
• Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
• Matthew Needham as Larys Strong

This isn't necessarily House of the Dragon Season 2 news, but it is of importance to House of the Dragon fans. Milly Alcock, who wowed everyone as young Rhaenyra Targaryen in Season 1, has leveraged her star-making role into a super new gig. Variety reported in January that Alcock has been booked to play Supergirl in James Gunn's reboot of the DC Cinematic Universe, which includes her own film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow as well as expected appearances in other DC Universe films, such as the upcoming Superman: Legacy.

House of the Dragon characters

The world of Westeros is populated by A LOT of people, and House of the Dragon, like Game of Thrones, does its best to introduce you to each and every one of them. That can be a lot to remember, especially since every third male is named Aegon and uncles can also be husbands, making lineage less of a family tree and more of a pile of sticks. 

Our guide to House of the Dragon's characters will help you keep things clear, so you can remember who is who.

House of the Dragon Characters: A Guide

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House of the Dragon dragons

While the humans bicker about who gets the metal chair, the show's real stars — the dragons — are busy turning sheep and bad guys into ash. But do you know their names, or which dragon is bonded to which Targaryen? We've rounded up all the flying lizards in one place so you can get to know them all in our guide to House of the Dragon's dragons.              

House of the Dragon Season 2 behind the scenes

Just like the Targaryens, the brass of House of the Dragon is changing regimes. After production on Season 1 was finished, co-showunner Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed three Season 1 episodes, stepped down from his role. No official reason was given. Ryan Condal will be the sole showrunner, while Sapochnik remains as an executive producer. 

To fill the void left by Sapochnik's departure, veteran TV and film director Alan Taylor is joining Season 2 as an executive producer. Taylor's directing credits include seven episodes of Game of Thrones, including Season 1's "Baelor" and Season 7's "Beyond the Wall." 

Where was House of the Dragon Season 2 filmed?

Season 1 was filmed in several locations in Europe — Cornwall, England; Herfordshire, England; Cáceres, Spain; the Castle of Monsanto in Portugal; and more. Spain, Wales, and London are among the confirmed locations where Season 2 was filmed.

House of the Dragon Season 2 renewal

It didn't take HBO long to renew House of the Dragon for a second season. Five days after the premiere of Season 1, HBO officially gave the second season the green light, referencing the impressive audience for the first episode: the largest audience ever for an HBO show on its first night (almost 10 million), and more than 20 million viewers on linear, streaming, and on-demand services over its first five days. 

Still, as fast as that renewal was, it took longer to be renewed than Game of Thrones did. Game of Thrones was renewed for a second season just two days after the premiere in 2011. 

While there have been no further season renewals, George R.R. Martin previously said he believes it will take four full 10-episode seasons to tell the story laid out in Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon Season 1 finale recap

House of the Dragon Season 1 ended with a lot of blood and death. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen traveled from King's Landing to Dragonstone to let Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon Targaryen know that one, King Viserys had died and two, Aegon had been crowned king by the Hightower-led Greens. Rhaenyra went into premature labor upon hearing this news, and lost her daughter. And while Daemon wanted to jump into war immediately and fight back with dragons, Rhaenyra wished to wait — she did not want to rule over "a kingdom of ash and bone." Hand of the King Otto Hightower, the architect of the Greens' plan to take the Iron Throne, arrived at Dragonstone to offer peace terms on behalf of Aegon, and Rhaenyra said she would consider them.

At the same time, the Targaryen-led Blacks were making moves to gather support from Westerosi lords for Rhaenyra's claim. A sickly Lord Corlys Velaryon returned from sea, and, after some prodding from his wife Rhaenys, declared his loyalty to Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra's son Jacaerys volunteered to deliver messages to the other lords, and Rhaenyra agreed to send him and his brother Lucerys — Jacaerys would go to the Eyrie and Winterfell, while Lucerys went to Storm's End. 

But at Storm's End, Lucerys saw that the fearsome dragon Vhagar was already there (that was your sign to leave, Luke!). Aemond Targaryen arrived earlier and already spoke to Borros Baratheon. The Lord of Storm's End was more interested in Aemond's offer — which included a marriage pact — and turned Lucerys away. Resentful Aemond, sensing an opportunity to further dominate the cousin who slashed his left eye, prepared to fight Lucerys and demanded he gouge out his own eye to pay his debt — a literal eye-for-an-eye proposition. But Lord Baratheon forbade the Targaryens from fighting under his roof. 

When Lucerys left on his dragon Arrax, he was followed by Aemond — who rides the much larger Vhagar. Aemond seemingly only wanted to taunt his nephew, but after Arrax spat fire at Vhagar, the she-dragon retaliated by chewing up Arrax in the air... leading to the death of sweet Lucerys, who was only 14 years old. The dragons are only under Targaryen control to a point, which is a scary thing. They're basically nuclear weapons with emotions and minds of their own, you know? 

The last scene of House of the Dragon Season 1 showed Daemon delivering the news to Rhaenyra — we did not actually hear this, but it's safe to assume this is what Daemon said. Rhaenyra shakily walked to the fireplace and turned around with a deadly glare. And the Dance of the Dragons is on!

Where to watch House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon Season 1 is available to stream on Max.