Billy Oduory on the Easter eggs in the teasers for HBO’s House of the Dragon season 2…
“Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land,” reads the famous quote in George R.R Martin’s A Storm of Swords. At no time in his entire book series is the Targaryen madness revealed better than during the Dance of the Dragons, and that is what fans are gearing up for in the second season of House of the Dragon.
“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons,” Rhaenys summarises the events in the upcoming second season of House of The Dragon in the trailer. While it doesn’t give too much away, the first trailer of House of the Dragon Season 2 confirms the explosive continuation of the show that fans expected after the sad end of the first season which saw young Lucerys Velaryon and his dragon killed in the show’s first dragon dance.
George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, on which the show is based, makes most of the events in the show predictable and most of the shots from the teaser can easily be linked to the events in the books. Unlike the first season, when most of the violence between the Greens and the Blacks was tamed, the second season opens up to the Targaryens in an all-out war with no Viserys to mediate and all love lost between Rhaenyra and Alicent. The first teaser trailer has shots of most of the important events in the second season, so let’s break them down.
Rhaenyra in Storm’s End
According to the books’ Rhaenyra thought she knew pain after experiencing the loss of her mother, her father, and her child with Daemon, but none of these was as bad as what she felt after Lucerys’ death. According to the books, she spent most of the early days of the Dance of the Dragons locked away on Dragonstone moaning over her son’s death, leaving Rhaenys and Daemon to fight most of the first battles for the Blacks.
The shot of her overlooking Storm’s End in the trailer is likely part of her journey in grief and it is likely part of the mission to recover Lucerys’ remains. In Mushroom’s account in the books, Lucerys’ body is found mutilated and eyes poked out, but there is no indication of that happening in the show.
Alicent Hightower vs the mob
In another shot of the trailer, Alicent Hightower is seen being pulled away by guards from what appears to be an irate crowd in a scene almost similar to that of Joffrey and Sansa being attacked by the common folk in Game of Thrones. While there is no direct event in the books that could point to Alicent getting attacked, we believe it happens during unrest in King’s Landing after the crackdown on Rhaenyra’s supporters in the capital and the Crown Lands overseen by Criston Cole. The unrest could also happen after the battle of Rook’s Rest when people feared that Rhaenyra would burn down the city.
First look at House Bracken in battle
The blood feud between House Bracken and House Blackwood goes way back to the early days before the arrival of the Andals in Westeros. House of the Dragon’s first season prepared fans for how the feud would play out in the Dance of the Dragons when young Willem Blackwood killed the obnoxious Jerrell Blackwood in the dogfight for Rhaenyra’s handing marriage at Storm’s End.
These two houses are powerhouses in the Riverlands and the feud between them plays a big role in the Dance of the Dragons as the Brackens support the Greens while the Blackwoods fight for Rhaenyra. In the trailer, a soldier wearing the sigil of House Bracken draws his sword in what looks like a battle. We believe this is the battle of the Burning Mill when the two houses fight on different sides, in which Daemon is victorious and stumps out the last of the Green-allied houses in the Riverlands.
Otto Hightower’s regrets
“Errors were made in the hours following King Viserys’ death,” are the first words in the season 2 trailer of House of the Dragon, said by Otto Hightower. His tone sounds conciliatory, which falls in line with the book version of events in which Otto does his best to avoid all-out confrontation with the Blacks despite installing Aegon II on Rhaenyra’s throne.
His words are likely being said to Rhaenyra or another ally of the Blacks because it wouldn’t make sense for him to apologize to his allies. We believe this happens after Aegon II removes him from his role as Hand of the King for failing to mobilize forces to lift the Velaryon Blockade of King’s Landing.
The new look for Criston Cole as he beheads someone
The first season focused on Criston Cole’s transformation from Rhaenyra’s lover and protector to her greatest enemy after she broke his heart. In the books, Criston Cole becomes Hand of the King in place of Otto Hightower and his first mission is to stump out all support for Rhaenyra in King’s Landing and the Crown Lands.
His most significant victory is the sacking of Duskendale where he manages to kill most members of House Duskendale ending with Lord Duskendale himself. The man being beheaded in the trailer is likely Lord Duskendale after the sacking. Criston Cole’s campaign is heavily supported by House Hightower whose armies are also seen marching in the trailer, most likely led by Criston Cole himself.
Dragon Seeds and new dragons
Seasmoke is the new pale dragon seen in the trailer of House of the Dragon season 2. In the books, its rider is the mysterious man called Addam of Hull, believed by Mushroom in the books to be the bastard son of Corlys Velaryon, although his mother claims that he is the son of Laenor Velaryon (who is clearly gay and unlikely to have sired any children). The brothers, Alyn and Addam are dragon seeds (Bastard sons of Targaryen and Velaryon dragonriders) who play a big role in the Dance of the Dragons but we are not sure how they will be introduced in the second season of House of the Dragon.
Seasmoke’s rider later meets Rhaenyra on the seashore in what we believe to be the agreement between Rhaenyra and the rider to fight for the Blacks. There is also the possibility of Laenor Velaryon returning as the mysterious dragon rider after he was revealed to be alive in the first season, but that remains to be seen when the show is finally released. More dragon riders, including Daemon and Leana’s oldest daughter Baela on her dragon Moondancer, are also seen in quick flashes of trailer riding new dragons.
Daemon suits up for battle
Daemon is one of the most important characters in House of the Dragon, but the only shot of him in the trailer is a quick flash of him dressing up for battle. In the books, Daemon concentrates on winning over the Riverlands for Rhaenyra in the early days of the war and we believe the same continues in the show’s second season. The battle Daemon is suiting up for is, therefore, likely the battle of the Burning Mill in which he defeats House Bracken alongside the last of Aegon II’s supporters in the Riverlands.
Blood and Cheese
“An eye for an eye. A son for a son. Lucerys shall be avenged,” Daemon writes to Rhaenyra in the books. In the books, he uses his friend, Mysaria, to hire a former gold cloak called Blood and a rat catcher in King’s Landing called Cheese to infiltrate the palace and kill Aegon II’s son as payback for Lucerys’ death. When the two assassins enter the Red Keep, they ask Queen Helaena to choose which of her sons they should kill, after which Blood proceeds to behead her eldest son, Jaehaerys, despite the queen choosing the younger one, Maelor.
The cold-blood murder of the young Jaehaerys marked one of the saddest moments in Fire & Blood, and the horror will likely be replicated in the show. In the season 2 trailer, Queen Helaena is seen held at knifepoint by one of the assassins (Likely Cheese). We believe the assassination will mark one of the earliest events of the second season.
Helaena the dreamer
After the death of her son, Helaena is driven to insanity by grief in the books and the trailer replicates it with a shot of her in a mourning gown. However, she seems to be absent-minded or dreaming in the scene which aligns her character to the book version in which she becomes a dreamer equated to Daenys the Dreamer who predicted the doom of Valyria, advising Aegon the Conqueror to move to Dragonstone 12 years before it happened. In House of the Dragon Season 1, Helaena predicted Aemond losing one eye before it happened, and the shots from the trailer suggest that she could continue with the trend, becoming the show’s dreamer just like Bran in Game of Thrones.
The Cargyll twins at war
When Rhaenys talks about the “war among kin,” it is not just the Targaryens who are fighting among themselves. Many houses are torn apart by the civil war and some of the most prominent figures that fight on opposite sides of the battle are the twin brothers Arryk and Erryk Cargyll. Erryk was seen in the last episode of the first season giving Viserys’s golden crown to Rhaenyra after leaving the King’s Guard and escaping the capital to fight for the Blacks.
In the trailer, one of the twins is seen striking his sword, which we believe to be the brothers in battle in Dragonstone where they had to kill each other after Arryk sneaked in to try and kill Rhaenyra and her children as revenge for Aegon II after the assassination of his eldest son by Blood and Cheese.
The march to Winterfell
House Stark is one of the most important allies of the blacks in Fire & Blood in the books, and it won’t be any different in the show. The house didn’t play a significant role in the first season, though, but Cregan Stark is expected to feature prominently in the second season. The trailer shows a caravan in a snow-covered Winterfell which we believe to be Rhaenyra’s eldest son Jacaerys Velaryon going to Winterfell to request Cregan Stark’s support in the war. The Starks actually have lots of internal wrangling of their own in Winterfell and Jacaerys could be forced to help Cregan secure his position as Lord of Winterfell in exchange for his support in the Dance of Dragons.
Aemond on Vhagar with scarred wings
Vhagar is the largest dragon alive in House of the Dragon, which means Aemond has an upper hand in most of the one-on-one dragon fights in the show. In the season 2 trailer, Aemond is seen riding Vhagar over a group of soldiers. While Vhagar’s majestic appearance is astonishing, her scarred wings are hard to miss, and the tears on her right wing in the trailer are more than what she had in the first season. The scene seems like the aftermath of a massive dragonfight that we believe to be the battle of Rook’s Rest.
During the battle, Aegon II on Sunfyre and Aemond on Vhagar defeat Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys. Rhaenys ends up burned beyond recognition as her dragon is killed while Aegon II is left twisted and scarred for life. The trailer also shows Aemond in the Great Hall of the Red Keep, likely before his ascend to the throne as Prince Regent after his brother is incapacitated in the battle. While the books don’t mention Vhagar’s injuries, the show clearly emphasizes them in the tears on her right wing.
SEE ALSO: House of the Dragon Season 2: How Long Does Aegon II Targaryen Stay On the Throne in the Books?
House of the Dragon features a cast that includes the returning Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham, along with new additions 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, Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne, Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower and Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong.