House of the Dragon dropped two dueling trailers for its season 2 making the show’s intention clear. Just like how the Marvel fandom rallied behind Team Captain America and Team Iron Man during the release of Captain America: Civil War, HoTD wants the fans to pick sides. The two sides in this vicious Targaryen Civil War are Rhaenyra Targaryen’s team black and Alicent Hightower’s team green. However, fans have yet to meet some of the members of these feuding factions.
HoTD Season 2 will feature some new characters in both team black and team green. Creator Ryan Condal has promised that all other major characters will make their appearance in due time, which is happy news for fans who missed one great story arc featuring a Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon Creator Confirms That The Show Will Not Miss Out On Any Major Characters
House of the Dragon Season 1 ended with some high-octane events that confirmed the impending war within the House of Targaryen. The second season picks up after the death of King Viserys I (played by Paddy Considine). As revealed in the trailer, the show will now explore the full-blown rivalry between Emma D’Arcy‘s Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke‘s Alicent Hightower as they make their claim to the Iron Throne.
Rhaenyra’s team black features the Queen, her husband/uncle Prince Daemon, and their faction on Dragonstone. The team green at the King’s Landing features Alicent, her father Otto, and her children, King Aegon II and Prince Aemond. While The Hightowers will see one major member returning to support his family’s stake in the war in the upcoming season, fans worry about another Hightower member being skipped from the show.
The Season 2 Official Black trailer gave us a quick glimpse of Gwayne Hightower, played by Freddie Fox. Gwayne is Otto’s son and the eldest of Alicent’s brothers. Series creator Ryan Condal believed that the character who was only mentioned in the first season would make for a great addition to the team green. He was raised outside the King’s Landing and fans would love to see how this outsider family member would impact Alicent and Otto.
Ryan Condal also confirmed the status of another major Targaryen character who hasn’t made an appearance yet. When asked about Daeron Targaryen during an interview with EW, Condal shared, “Daeron is a fixture and a character in the show. Do not fret, anybody. All in due time.” Daeron is Queen Alicent’s son other than Aegon and Aemond, who’s mentioned in the book Fire and Blood. However, he was not even mentioned in the first season of the show.
House of the Dragon Will Not Repeat Game of Thrones‘ Mistake Of Skipping A Targaryen Arc
Game of Thrones missed the opportunity of exploring Daenerys Targaryen’s family line who had a crucial role in shaping the events of the series. Daenerys’ father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, and her older brother, Rhaegar Targaryen, were only mentioned in passing throughout the majority of the show. Rhaegar made his brief appearance in the Season 7 finale and was revealed to be the father of fan-favorite character Jon Snow.
Rhaegar Targaryen died 14 years before the events of Game of Thrones. According to his life’s tale narrated in the series, Rhaegar fell in love with Lyanna Stark, Ned Stark’s sister and Robert Baratheon’s betrothed. When both Rhaegar and Lyanna disappeared, House Stark accused the Targaryens of kidnapping Lyanna. Brandon Stark and Lord Rickard Stark, who went to confront the Mad King, were brutally executed.
This started Robert’s Rebellion where Robert Baratheon personally killed Rhaegar in single combat at the Battle of the Trident, overthrowing House Targaryen (with Jaime Lannister ending the Mad King). Game of Thrones skipped this major character arc, a mistake that fans still haven’t forgiven the franchise for.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on HBO and Max on June 16, 2024.
