Will ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Veer from the Books?

This post contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of House of the Dragon.

It's been a little under a year and a half since House of the Dragon's season 1 finale—even if the wait for fans has felt like forever. (Remember: The gap between seasons 1 and 2 is only a few hours in dragon years.) So with our glasses now half full, I'm thrilled that season 2 of the HBO fantasy series will premiere June 16. To get audiences even more hyped for the big return, actors Tom Glynn-Carney (King Aegon II Targaryen) and Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), gave Esquire a taste of what's to come.

"In the last three episodes of season 1, I presented a character that was entirely black," said Mitchell. "In season 2, I can't wait to turn him gray." As fans recall, Mitchell plays the younger Targaryen brother with an eye patch and a sapphire for an eye underneath. Meanwhile, Glynn-Carney's King Aegon II is an "unpredictable live wire" on the throne. "He's intensely ambitious and incapable of pursuing the things he sets for himself," the actor said. When the series begins, Aegon II is the Joffrey-esque misfit with all the power, even though his cunning brother is more adept in military strategy. As war peeks around the corner, who will lead King's Landing?

House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, a collection of completed (shocker!) short stories that contain a definite end for this Targaryen generation. But even though die-hard Westerosi fans know how our story pans out, events may not occur onscreen exactly as Martin wrote them. "The books are the foundation of where we're going narratively, but things are tweaked," said Glynn-Carney. "It's the bible, but it's also not. The writers of our show are brilliant and should be given credit for their creation. George R. R. Martin should be given credit for his creation. But they're not the same thing."

We'll find out for sure when House of the Dragon returns Sunday, June 16. The latest trailer from HBO serves as a wake-up call for anyone (including yours truly) who barely remembers who all these people are anyway. For those who also need a bit of a refresher, feel free to join me as I dive back into our weekly episode recaps.

What Can Fans Expect from House of the Dragon Season 2?

Though many major television shows experienced heavy production delays from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the Game of Thrones spin-off filmed throughout last summer. Francesca Orsi, the executive vice president of drama series at HBO, reaffirmed back in May that the network was also restarting production on The Last of Us and The White Lotus. "We have a beautiful cast that was assembled by Kate Rhodes [James], and we just are proud of seeing how those scripts are coming alive," she said in an interview with Deadline. "The emotionality that the cast is bringing to it is something that we feel confident with and know that we're going to deliver something special."

So what can we expect to see this summer? The exact plot of House of the Dragon season 2 is under wraps, but the series showrunner, Ryan Condal, told The Hollywood Reporter that many new characters will appear. "We are thrilled to be shooting again with members of our original family as well as new talents on both sides of the camera," he said. "All your favorite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies and riding their dragons into battle. We can't wait to share what we have in store."

If you watched House of the Dragon's first season and noticed a surprising lack of actual dragons—as I did!—season 2 will also reportedly introduce us to some new winged beasts. Finally! "You're going to meet five new dragons," Condal revealed at a recent event in Los Angeles. Wow. Five? Oddly specific but intriguing! You could honestly go full Dragon Tales and not even give me the people. I'm even ready for the dragons to talk like the whales in Avatar: The Way of Water, but one can only be so greedy. Remember, Thrones fans, we still don't have The Winds of Winter in our hands to read. Until then, five more dragons it is.

What Could Happen in Season 2 of House of the Dragon?

Unlike the fandom's obsessive theorizing with Thrones, House of the Dragon will be adapted from George R.R. Martin's finished novel Fire & Blood, so its course is pretty much laid out. Yet so far, fans of the fantasy series have been doing a fantastic job not revealing the fates of many of its popular main characters, even as the show's deaths and major plot twists have been coming fast.

In the latter half of the first season, the series controversially united Rhaenyra and her uncle, Daemon, in marriage—though many fans didn't seem to mind. "He's become Internet Boyfriend in a way that baffles me," House of the Dragon writer Sara Hess told The Hollywood Reporter. "Not that Matt [Smith] isn't incredibly charismatic and wonderful, and he's incredible in the role. But Daemon himself is … I don't want him to be my boyfriend! I'm a little baffled how they're all, 'Oh, daddy!' And I'm just like: 'Really?'" She also teased what's to come for the couple. "And right now, we're writing season 2 and figuring out, what is the nature of his relationship with Rhaenyra?" Hess continued. "There are many interpretations [in George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood] to that." Uh-oh! Trouble in uncle-husband-niece-wife paradise?

The couple will face off in a Targaryen civil war against the newly crowned Aegon II, Rhaenyra's half brother. Alongside Rhaenyra and Daemon is House Velaryon—possessors of the largest navy in Westeros—and over a dozen dragons. They're referred to as the "Blacks," due to their house colors. Meanwhile, the "Greens" consist of the group at King's Landing, including King Aegon II, Alicent, Otto Hightower, Ser Criston Cole, Aemond, and Vhagar—the largest dragon in the world. In the shocking season finale, Aemond and Vhagar slaughter Rhaenyra's son, Luke, marking the first death in the civil war following Aegon II's ascension.

"The moment that she receives the news of Luke's passing, that attempt at mediation crumbles," Emma D'Arcy told Entertainment Weekly about Rhaenyra's change come season 2. "I don't think there is any longer the bandwidth to suppress and repress her nature.... I am excited to discover what happens when Rhaenyra does less navigating and more acting on her instincts and desires. For so many very legitimate reasons, she has her hands tied practically throughout season 1. I have a feeling that the rein might be off for season 2." Steal Rhaenyra's crown and kill her son? War couldn't be any more imminent.

Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays King Aegon II, all but confirmed the bloody conflict to come at HBO's first-ever Game of Thrones fan convention in Los Angeles. According to Entertainment Weekly, the actor said during a Q&A panel that while he had to watch his words about season 2, he was still "looking forward to having Aegon have a lot more meat to get his teeth stuck into and to cause more havoc, really... which he does so well." When asked if we would see King Aegon II ride his dragon, Sunfyre, in season 2, Glynn-Carney responded, "All I can tell you is that we're training very hard and we are making sure our bodies are in good enough condition for how strenuous season 2 is gonna be." (Since the actors are not riding actual dragons, I'm not sure what this could mean, but I imagine all that warring and sword-fighting must require one to be physically fit.)

"He was always gonna be a tricky one because, on paper, he can very easily come across as an out-and-out villain and someone who's dark and cold," Glynn-Carney continued. "I think he is all those things, but I think there's way more layers to him as well. He's not an out-and-out psychopath. There are complexities and intricacies within him that make him an absolute gift to play. He keeps me guessing, so hopefully that translates to keep everyone else on their toes. No one should really be able to make up their mind about him straightaway, and hopefully they'll give him a little bit of a chance. But we'll see. It's not looking good!"

Who Will Return for Season 2?

The current cast will likely all return for the second season unless we're surprised by another major casting shake-up. The time jumps are "done," according to a Deadline interview with showrunner Ryan Condal, but there are still plenty of surprises left in store for us. One major bummer, however, is that Milly Alcock will likely not be back for any season 2 flashbacks as the young Rhaenyra. If you ask me, she was easily the best part of early House of the Dragon episodes, before Emma D'Arcy took over the role following a time jump. In an interview with Deadline about her part in The Crucible in the West End, Alcock responded to rumors that she was returning for season 2 by briefly saying, "No. It's done."

House of the Dragon will also no longer be led by Miguel Sapochnik. The co-showrunner announced that he would be stepping down to work on and develop new projects with HBO following the debut season. Before House of the Dragon, Sapochnik directed several popular Game of Thrones episodes, including "Hardhome" and "The Battle of the Bastards." THR confirmed that he will still be credited as an executive producer.

"Working within the GOT universe for the past few years has been an honor and a privilege, especially spending the last two with the amazing cast and crew of House of the Dragon," Sapochnik said in a statement. "I am so proud of what we accomplished with Season One and overjoyed by the enthusiastic reaction of our viewers. It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally."

Condal, Sapochnik's current partner in creation, will act as the sole showrunner going into season 2, with fellow Thrones director Alan Taylor joining for additional directing and executive producing. "While we would have loved to have Miguel continue in the same role, we are thrilled to have his ongoing collaboration in this new creative capacity," HBO said in a statement. "Looking forward, we've had a decades-long relationship with Alan Taylor, and we are delighted to have him join Ryan and the rest of the talented team."

What's House of the Dragon Planning for the Future?

Season 2 will consist of only eight episodes—two fewer than House of the Dragon's first season—as the show plans its long-term future. Condal and George R.R. Martin reportedly "took a step back" to look at the overarching story across three to four seasons, per Deadline, in the hope that the series would get an early renewal for season 3 as well. So fewer dragons but better dragons?

Mitchell also told Esquire, "It’s all up in the air, mate," regarding how long the series will run. "I highly doubt they'll do what they did with Game of Thrones and carry on after the book finishes," he said. "I think our story will run its course and everyone will move on." We shall see. Many things can change in the dance of dragons.

When Will Season 2 of House of the Dragon Premiere?

Season 2 will premiere June 16, according to the new trailer. It took ten months just to film the first season of House of the Dragon, not including the massive amount of visual effects and other postproduction work, which likely took months to finalize. "We've chosen a story that's almost like Star Wars: Episode IV," Sapochnik previously told EW about House of the Dragon's overarching story. "It's the New Hope. We can go backwards, we can go forwards. There's a lot of opportunities there." Those CGI dragons don't grow on trees, after all!

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