Blood, fire and two women in a war dictated by men. This Sunday the 16th, the second season of the series premieres on HBO and MAX -at 10 p.m. House of the Dragon and the fight of the blonde Targaryen family for the Iron Throne breaks out: Rhaenyra Targaryen -of the Black Side- and her former friend Alicent Hightower -of the Green Side- They display their military power and their dragons, two centuries before. Will anyone be left alive?
In the finale of the first season of House of the Dragon King Viserys Targaryen had died; His wife, Alicent Hightower, rushed to crown his son, the young, alcoholic, womanizing Aegon Targaryen. The firstborn and legal successor to the Iron Throne was, in reality, Rhaenyra Targaryen. But since she is a woman, Rules are not respected in the voracious patriarchal world of Westeros.
There it starts the second season, of eight episodes (uploads one per week), between palace intrigues, secret alliances and dragons as weapons of mass destruction. There was a tragic event at the close of the first: a dragon tore another dragon to pieces. and Lucerys, the youngest son of Rhaenyra Targaryen (actress Emma D’Arcy), fell into the void. Now her impulsive husband-uncle Daemon Targaryen (magnetic actor Matt Smith) seeks revenge on the Black Side. How will the Green respond?
Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen and Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra. Photo: Courtesy HBO-WARNER
Like an enemy mirror, his nephew, the one-eyed Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), will also gain violence and bloodthirsty fervor. “Both developed in very different ways, but they are the greatest military power on each side, because of their dragons. And they are both second sons, so they do not aspire to the throne. They are at the service of Rhaenyra and Alicent, respectively,” says Ryan Condal, the creator of this drama of fantasy, politics, sex and crossed ambitions.
In the run-up to the launch of this second season, This Thursday after noon the people of HBO and MAX confirmed the making of a third season.
The voices of the protagonists
Clarion spoke with Ryan Condal, via Zoomand also with actors Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen), Steve Touissant (Corlys Velaryon), Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole) and Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen). Everyone will play their chips, not always with logic and honor, in this epic fiction “in which women hate each other and fight because of men,” says actor Steve Touissant.
House of the Dragon It is based on the historical book Fire and bloodby George RR Martin (also creator of the series and the entire saga that inspired game of Thrones). “The great theme of House of the Dragon -says Ryan Condal- is to see powerful women in a patriarchal society that rejects their value as military leaders, politicians and sovereigns. In the second season this affects them even more, also in relation to their children and the fight for the throne.”
The Dance of Dragons is called the fight between the “Greens” and the “Blacks”. Photo: Courtesy HBO-WARNER
What is the great challenge of the series at the production level? “Every day was challenging and that is part of the nature of the show,” explains Condal. In the second season of House of the Dragon We have a lot of pieces in play, new sets, locations, costumes and helmets. There is much more to oversee and everything becomes more complex.” Thus, the story “will evolve in an incredible way in this legendary Dance of Dragons”.
Fabien Frankel plays Ser Criston Cole, who was protector – and first love – of Rhaenyra Targaryen, but is now in the service of Alicent Hightower. “The scale of the series is surprising and we interact with several new characters,” says Frankel.
Simon Russell Beale will play Simon Strong, Gayle Rankin will play Alys Rivers, Abubakar Salim will play Alyn Hull and Freddie Fox will play Gwayne Hightower.. They will all play key roles in this deadly game of feuding families and castles.
Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole and Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, two of those interviewed by “Clarín”. Photo: Courtesy HBO-WARNER
“It is interesting to see how pain makes all the characters do very bizarre things“, he tells Clarion Matt Smith, whose role, Daemon Targaryen, although he is not a great strategist or a noble warrior, becomes one of the most attractive and unpredictable beings in House of the Dragon. Not everyone else makes it: It is impossible to match the dramatic power and fascinating characters of the predecessor Game of Thrones.
The success of the first season
But the series House of the Dragon It also generated enviable results. The first season, throughout 2022, was a total success on HBO and Its first episode had almost 10 million viewers in the United States: it was the largest audience for an HBO original series. And something is undoubtedly. “House of the Dragon is more somber and solemn than Game of Thrones”explains the showrunner Ryan Condal.
Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower. Photo: Courtesy HBO-WARNER
What other plus does House of the Dragon offer in search of its own identity? “One of the challenging traits is the love that some on the Green Side feel for others on the Black Side,” says Matt Smith.
For example, former friends Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower “still have some affection for each other. Everything would be much more linear if that didn’t happen. That enriches the second season, as well as the manipulations of Otto Hightower,” explains Fabien Frankel, alluding to Alicent’s father (played by actor Rhys Ifans).
Steve Touissant (as Corlys Velaryon, the Lord of the Tides, aka “the Sea Serpent”) and Eve Best (as Rhaenys Targaryen, Rhaenyra’s aunt, aka “the queen who never was”) also deploy strategies and tactics in support of the Black House. Or will they change sides if other alliances go awry? “Our couple has a relationship based on dialogue and commitment,” says Eve Best. Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen carry many losses and will do what they believe is best, as a team, to survive.”
Steve Touissant as Corlys Velaryon and Eve Best as Rhaenys Targaryen. Photo: Courtesy HBO-WARNER
Two hundred years later, in the series Game of Thrones, House Velaryon will not have any presence: no one ever names it. How will Corlys Velaryon go from Lord of the Tides to forgotten? House of the Dragon It will also reveal, little by little, the explanations. “Our fight for the throne is over.”, Corlys had said at the end of the first season. “There may be some cracks in the solid unity of the marriage between Corlys and Rhaenys,” says Touissant.
Love, like power, is always in tension in House of the Dragon. And young people often inherit the dark desires, vices, swords and dragons of their ancestors. Tall, with straight blonde hair and a black patch over one eye, Aemond Targaryen also will have a central role in the second season of House of the Dragon. Above all, after having caused – with his dragon – the death of Lucerys, the son of Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Video
Trailer for the second season of “House of the Dragon”, which starts on Sunday the 16th, by Max.
What does Ewan Mitchell think about playing Aemond Targaryen? Less distant – and implacable – than his character, the 27-year-old actor smiles via Zoom, alongside Clarion: “Aemond will start the second season back in the city of King’s Landing,” he says. He must decide if what he did was a mistake, appealing to Rhaenyra Targaryen’s mercy, or vindicate the murder of his son. “Aemond could become the most wanted man in the entire Kingdom.”
His mother, Alicent Hightower, will be there to cover his steps or to answer Rhaenyra Targaryen’s thirst for revenge: so that the Dance of Dragons can spread unchecked in Westeros. As actor Steve Touissant says: “Ultimately, This historical epic follows the friendship of two women, Rhaenyra and Alicent, which is overshadowed by men and turns into a tragedy.”.
