1. There’s a royal rumble brewing
Set nearly two centuries before the rise of Daenerys Targaryen and the events detailed in “Game of Thrones,” “House of the Dragon” follows a different battle for the Iron Throne from the pages of George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”
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In season one, fans saw the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) come to an end, sending the realm into chaos due to a complicated line of succession situation. Despite naming his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), his heir all the way back in episode one, Viserys wound up fathering a few sons with Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) — Rhaenyra’s childhood friend — before his eventual death.
As the series adapts the Dance of the Dragons civil war from Martin’s book, Rhaenyra and her supporters, called the Blacks, and Alicent’s side, known as the Greens, are headed for a royal rumble going into season two. During the season one finale, Rhaenyra learns of her father’s death and that her half-brother, Prince Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), had been installed on the Iron Throne in her stead thanks to the machinations of his mother, Queen Alicent, and his grandfather, the conniving Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who served as the Hand of King Viserys.
The season one finale saw both sides attempting to shore up alliances as they prepared for the coming war.
2. Team Black is out for blood
If being usurped from her rightful place on the Iron Throne wasn’t enough, Rhaenyra also suffered two devastating blows in last season’s finale. First, the stress of the news about her father and half-brother causes her to go into labor early, with the baby dying upon birth. Then, at the end of the finale, her husband and uncle, the blood-thirsty Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), seemingly informs her of the death of her son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault).
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After paying Lord Borros Baratheon (Roger Evans) a visit to remind him of the oath his family promised to recognize Rhaenyra as the true heir, the young prince gets attacked mid-air while flying his tiny dragon Arrax by Aegon’s brother, Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), and his much larger dragon, Vhagar. As the final moments of season one and trailers for season two have teased, Rhaenyra and her supporters will be out for blood to avenge Lucerys’s death and reclaim the Iron Throne.
3. Team Green is ready to tighten its grip on the Iron Throne
Aegon and his supporters don’t plan to give up King’s Landing so easily, though, as they continue to plot to protect their claim to the throne.
Toward the end of season one, Queen Alicent mistakes the dying words of King Viserys — who was recalling the Song of Fire and Ice prophecy that comes to fruition years later in “Game of Thrones” — as changing his mind about his heir. The queen quickly goes to work to make her son, Aegon, the new king, with the penultimate episode featuring a lavish coronation in the Dragonpit with thousands of people in attendance.
After escaping the clutches of the Greens, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), the “Queen Who Never Was,” crashes the party with her dragon Meleys, killing and maiming a bunch of citizens before flying off to Dragonstone to give Rhaenyra all the bad news. An envoy, including the Hand, later goes to Dragonstone to offer Rhaenyra and her supporters a deal, to let them keep their land and heads in exchange for recognizing Aegon as king. The Blacks aren’t having any of it, though, meaning the Greens will look to tighten their grip on King’s Landing and the throne in season two.
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4. New allies, enemies, and dragons are set to enter the fray
New allies, enemies, and dragons are all set to show up in season two. As fans saw in last season’s finale, Rhaenyra has shored up her alliance with Rhaenys’s husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), the “Sea Snake,” whose impressive fleet should prove an asset in the coming battles.
In the finale, viewers also saw Prince Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett), Rhaenyra’s surviving son, fly off to visit House Stark to ensure they back his mother’s claim to the throne. Actor Tom Taylor is set to appear in season two as Lord Cregan Stark, so it will be interesting to see how the ancestors of Arya, Sansa, and the rest of the “Game of Thrones” Starks factor into the new season and future of the show. Other new faces set to appear include Abubakar Salim as sailor Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as the supernatural Alys Rivers, and Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower.
And while the show plans to feature 17 different dragons throughout the series, one that fans can plan on seeing this season is the mighty Vermithor. The dragon was first seen in the season one finale, as Prince Daemon attempted to woo the riderless dragon with a song. Expect to see this behemoth fly into battle at some point this summer.
5. ‘House of the Dragon’ season 3 is already in the works
The future is bright for “House of the Dragon” as season three has already gotten the green light even with the new season not on the airwaves yet. While it’s hard to say who will sit atop the Iron Throne when the dust settles on the season two finale later this summer, at least fans can rest easy knowing that more adventures in Westeros are on the way.
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“House of the Dragon” season two premieres at 9 p.m. on Sunday on HBO and Max.
Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.
