Both House Targaryen and House Hightower prepare for 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 her dragon Arrax from Aemond Targaryen’s dragon Vhagar (Ewan Mitchell), who killed Luke for his account without receiving orders. do it 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 Aemond killed and hired two assassins to enter the Red Keep, under the pretense of being rat catchers.
While they couldn’t find Aemond… they did find Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and her twin heirs to the Iron Throne of King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney)… brutally slaughtering her son Jaehaerys.
Both House Targaryen and House Hightower prepare for 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 the Iron Throne of King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney)… brutally slaughtering her son Jaehaerys.
The new episode begins with the bloody bedding carried away after the massacre of the King’s son, while the Red Keep is in chaos.
The King shouts: ‘I will kill them! I will kill everyone! while his caregivers try to calm him down, although he shouts: ‘This is war! I declare war!’
Aemond, the true target of the attack, 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 his father Otto tells Alicent Hightower that the doors have closed and that they will find the murderer.
Alicent says: “The boy.” -The child is dead. His pain is over. But what they have done to my girl.
Otto says they will cry, but there is a chance that something good can still come out of this betrayal.
King Aegon II shouts that the son is his legacy, when Lord Larys enters and says that someone has been arrested 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 after House Targaryen’s rule over Westeros.
The trailer for this new episode showed how furious Aegon II was after the murder of his son, fervently declaring war on Rhaenyra.
However, Rhaenyra was as upset with Daemon as Aegon II was, saying that she could not trust him and that he had now weakened her claim 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 after House Targaryen’s rule over Westeros.
At the end of season 1, King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) had died and his only son, Aegon II, claimed the Iron Throne.
Rhaenyra felt she had a right to the throne, as House Targaryen split between factions led by Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Rhaenyra’s former best friend and wife of King Viserys.
The Season 2 premiere took a small hit in the ratings, with 7.8 million viewers tuning in last week across all platforms.
That number was a 22% drop from the 10 million viewers who tuned in to the series premiere in August 2022.
The drop was attributed to linear viewing, those who watched the episode live on HBO, which was 1 million less than the series premiere.
However, Rhaenyra was as upset with Daemon as Aegon II was, saying that she could not trust him and that he had now weakened her claim to the Iron Throne.
The second episode of season 1 actually increased to 10.2 million, which is a series peak, with 9.3 million viewers watching the season 1 finale.
Last Sunday’s second season debut was written by showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of Game of Thrones as well as such HBO staples as Boardwalk Empire, Sex and the City, The Sopranos and their prequel film, The Many. Newark Saints
Rhaenyra felt she had a right to the throne, as House Targaryen split 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 rose to 10.2 million, which is a series peak, with 9.3 million viewers watching the season 1 finale.
Last Sunday’s second season debut was written by showrunner Ryan Condal and directed by Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of Game of Thrones as well as such HBO staples as Boardwalk Empire, Sex and the City, The Sopranos and their prequel film, The Many. Newark Saints.
The show’s second season began with a revised opening title sequence that was noticeably different from the one aired in the show’s first season.
The first season of House of the Dragon featured an animated opening that incorporated ancient Valyria into a stone model, as it had been presided over by the late King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). It included red blood running through the streets of Valyria, with symbolism alluding to Targaryen leaders.
