TV & Movies
House Of The Dragon Season 2 Teaser Hints At The Bloodiest War Yet
“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin.”
The Targaryens are back and more dysfunctional than ever. HBO released the official House of the Dragon Season 2 teaser trailer during its CCXP23 panel in São Paulo, Brazil on Dec. 2, and it shows what may turn out to be the bloodiest war the Game of Thrones universe has ever seen.
A War Between Kin
When House of the Dragon arrived in 2022, the Game of Thrones prequel series took viewers back 200 more years to an earlier era of Westeros. Though the characters and time period were new, the scheming and power struggles were familiar. Season 1 set up an inevitable showdown between the Targaryen family’s Green and Black factions, and the teaser previews the intense and bloody conflict that follows the death of King Viserys (Paddy Considine).
“Errors were made in the hours following King Viserys’ death,” Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) says in the beginning of the trailer.
Then Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) spells out the devastation and chaos to come: “The war will be fought,” she says. “Many will die. And the victor will eventually ascend the throne.”
Finally, Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) teases a horrifying amount of bloodshed. “There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin,” she says. “And no war so bloody as a war between dragons.”
The teaser shows both returning stars and new additions to the cast. Cooke, Best, and Ifans are joined in Season 2 by fellow returners Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham. Newcomers include Abubakar Salim, Gayle Rankin, Freddie Fox, Simon Russell Beale, Clinton Liberty, Jamie Kenna, Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, Tom Taylor, and Vincent Regan.
A War Between Fans
Many fans don’t seem too fazed by the losses ahead of them. They were too busy celebrating House of the Dragon’s impending return after the teaser dropped. “Let the dance begin,” one enthused fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another shared that they’re “thriving” after the trailer’s release. Still someone else added, “Can’t wait to see what crimes against humanity they’re cooking up for s2 #hotd.” Plus, there was the usual “screaming, crying, throwing up” response.
The fan wars have already begun. Many showed their support for either the Blacks’ Rhaenyra Targaryen (D’Arcy) or the Greens’ Alicent. “Mother has never bothered this hard,” one tweeted alongside photos of Rhaenyra, and another described her as “My Queen.” On the other side, there were tweets like, “alicent i love you for life,” and “TRY NOT TO SAY MOTHER.”
Amid it all, some fans did fear for what may happen during House of the Dragon Season 2. “My biggest tv trauma is the Red Wedding episode of #GOT. Took me years to return to the show,” one wrote, in part. “I have a scary feeling that it will happen again.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 debuts on HBO in Summer 2024.
