The ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel is about to release its new episodes, but first we look back to refresh our memory.
The second season of ‘The House of the Dragon’ will start on June 17 via Max. Throughout the new chapters, there will be a total confrontation between the Targaryens that will fracture Westeros into two sides. However, before we dive into this all-out fight, We wanted to review what happened in the first installment, which spanned two decades and laid the foundation for the conflicts that will be explored during the Dance of the Dragons. And to make it even simpler, We have summarized the ten hours in these seven moments that you have to remember no matter what before facing the next round:
1 The Great Council
The Great Council of Harrenhal
We start at the beginning. In the first scene of the series, the adult version of Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) narrated the events of the Great Council, the extraordinary meeting called by King Jaehaerys I to appoint his successor. A century after Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros and, therefore, the beginning of Targaryen hegemony, the elderly Jaehaerys he had to choose his heirsince his two sons had died before him.
Although the next in line of succession It should have been his granddaughter Rhaenys (Eve Best), finally the Old King and the thousand lords who came to Harrenhal opted for another suitor, Viserys (Paddy Considine), also Jaehaerys’ grandson, but younger than his cousin. Thus, The succession conflict was considered closed, but the really thorny part was still to come.
2 Rhaenyra’s appointment
Viserys and Rhaenyra in ‘The House of the Dragon’
After that look into the past, The first episode jumped fully into the reign of Viserys. Specifically, the tournament in honor of the heir who was about to be born. However, both Queen Aemma and her baby died during the tortuous birth, so the title of heir seemed to fall again to Viserys’ younger brother, Daemon (Matt Smith), but his constant recklessness and lack of respect pushed him into exile to Dragonstone.
So, without sons and after being widowed, Viserys made an unusual decision: name his daughter Rhaenyra as heir (Milly Alcock). No woman had ever sat on the Iron Throne, but that did not prevent the fifth Targaryen king from choosing his firstbornwhich in a solemn act was supported by the lords of the kingdom, who swore loyalty to the teenager.
3 The Green Wedding
Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding banquet
Marriage celebrations have never been free of violence in the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe, and ‘The House of the Dragon’ was not going to be an exception. In the fifth episode, Rhaenyra became engaged to Laenor Velaryon, son of Rhaenys and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), member of the Viserys council. With this link, the ties between both families, which had been damaged by the resolution of the Great Council, were strengthened, and it also sought to reinforce Rhaenyra’s image among the people, although not even the girlfriend (entangled in a passionate relationship with Criston Cole) nor the boyfriend (who had Joffrey Lonmouth as a lover) They planned to form a conventional couple.
And much less common was the wedding, since what began with the tension that was already latent between Rhaenyra and her former friend Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), who became queen after marrying Viserys, ended up exploding when Cole (Fabien Frankel), angered by Rhaenyra’s refusal to run away together and her dishonorable proposal to keep him as a lover, brutally murdered Lonmouth. From that moment, it was clear that Cole and Alicent, who had attended the wedding in a striking green dress, would form one side and Rhaenyra would always be on the other side. The Greens and the Blacks.
4 The burning of Harrenhal
Larys Strong in ‘House of the Dragon’
The wedding bloodbath marked a turning point in the series, as the next episode already put D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke at the head of the cast as the new Rhaenyra and Alicent. More distanced than ever, both had achieved different statuses at court and both had gone from daughters to mothers. On the one hand, the queen had increased her power, while the heiress had become the protagonist of numerous rumors about the blatant resemblance of his three children to Ser Harwin Strong.
The constant comments calling her children (Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey) as bastards led her to leave for Dragonstone. For her part, Strong had to return to Harrenhal after a confrontation with Cole, and Returning to his native home, he lost his life with his father, Lyonel Strong., Hand of the King of Viserys. Both died in a fire hosted by Harwin’s brother, Larys (Matthew Needham), who sought to gain Alicent’s trust by paving the way for Otto Hightower’s (Rhys Ifans) return as Hand. At first, this event may seem insignificant, but it is good to remember it considering that it is confirmed that Harrenhal will be an important location in the second season.
5 The prince who was promised
Alicent next to Viserys’s corpse
Before being named heir, Rhaenyra was given an enormous responsibility: keep alive the prophecy of Aegon the Conqueror, the Song of Ice and Fire, according to which a Targaryen must be on the throne when a threat arrives in the middle of winter. That secret, only known to father and daughter, gave rise to a somewhat confusing situation that led Alicent to believe that her husband had changed his mind to finally name his son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), married to his sister Helaena (Phia Saban), as legitimate heir.
On his deathbed, the weakened and disoriented king pronounced the name of his ancestor, unable to distinguish whether his wife or his daughter was before him. However, The queen assumed that those enigmatic words referred to her songiving her the push she needed to definitively fracture the Targaryens after the death of her husband.
6 Aegon’s Proclamation
Criston Cole and Aegon in ‘The House of the Dragon’
With Viserys’ corpse still warm, both Alicent and her father Otto rushed to establish Aegon as king, even though the young man was not up for assuming that position. While the twins Arryk and Erryk Cargyll were searching for the prince, Otto forced several lords who had sworn allegiance to Rhaenyra to change their votes.
Once he discovered the whereabouts of Aegon, who was practically dragged back by his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), rider of the monstrous dragon Vhagar, and Cole, The Cargyll twins parted ways, as one of them stayed with Aegon and the other fled to Dragonstone. to inform Rhaenyra, already married to Daemon, of everything that happened and take a stand on her side. As he slipped away, Aegon was named king before thousands of subjects and before the perplexed gaze of Rhaenyswho could have ended it all on the back of his dragon, but chose not to.
7 The death of Lucerys
Lucerys Velaryon in ‘The House of the Dragon’
Although Aegon’s coronation could be considered the trigger for the Dance of Dragons, the war between Aegon and Rhaenyra’s factions for the Iron Throne, the real turnaround occurred at the end of the tenth episode. In search of allies, Rhaenyra sent her children Jacaerys and Lucerys on their respective dragons to strategic points. The little boy arrived at Storm’s End to negotiate with Borros Baratheon, but There he found his uncle Aemond, whose eye he had gouged out years before. when they were both little.
The tension of the moment and the wounds of the past led Aemond to pursue Lucerys on Vhagar and, although it did not seem entirely his intention to kill his nephew, ended up dismembering both him and his dragon Arrax. And with that point of no return the first season ended, which challenged us with a Rhaenyra’s furious look that promised revenge, fire and blood.
