House of the Dragon season 2: Release date, trailers, plot and news

It looks like an all-out war is on the cards this time around as Westeros is embroiled in the Dance of the Dragons – a civil war between the two factions, the Greens and the Blacks, that's detailed in the pages of George RR Martin's Fire & Blood.

Showrunner Ryan Condal told RadioTimes.com: "We're trying to honour this history as closely as we possibly can, while building a very complex TV show around it.

"So, I think all the big moments from the books, the things that you expect, you can continue to expect them to be covered and dramatised in some way. I mean, sometimes it is just acknowledging that that thing happened over there."

Fans will be pleased to hear that many favourite faces, including Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), are be back in action.

There are also a myriad of new faces in House of the Dragon season 2, including Freddie Fox, who's playing Ser Gwayne Hightower – the son of Otto Hightower, Queen Alicent's brother, which also makes him the uncle of King Aegon, Queen Helaena, and Prince Aemond.

Speaking with RadioTimes.com exclusively on the red carpet for the BAFTA TV Awards 2024, Fox teased plenty of "dark relationships" in season 2 as well as "a lot of dragons".

So, what else can we expect from House of the Dragon season 2? Read on to find out.

House of the Dragon season 2 release date

House of the Dragon season 2 premiered on 16th June 2024 in the US, and became available from 2am on 17th June 2024 in the UK.

The news was confirmed when two trailers were released for the season on Thursday 21st March 2024.

This came after the June release window news was announced by JB Perrette – the president of global streaming and games at the studio – at a media conference Q&A, although an exact premiere date was not given.

"When we look at the next 12 to 18 to 24 months, we have all of our four biggest HBO tentpoles – House of the Dragon season 2 coming in June," Perette said, also referring to The Last of Us, Euphoria and The White Lotus.

HBO's Network Chief, Casey Bloys, previously announced that we can expect the new season this summer during press event, with a trailer of the upcoming season being shown to a select few there.

Previously speaking to Vulture, HBO Max's chief content officer Casey Bloys revealed: "Don't expect it in '23, but I think sometime in '24.

"We're just starting to put the plan together, and just like last time, there are so many unknowns. It's not to be coy or secretive, but you don't want to say it's going to be ready on this date, and then you have to move it."

The trailer, released in December 2023, confirmed the release window of summer 2024.

Filming for season 2 began in April 2023 and wrapped in September the same year.

How many episodes are in House of the Dragon season 2?

House of the Dragon season 2 will consist of eight episodes, two fewer than the first season's 10-episode run.

Discussing the reasoning behind the shorter second season, Clare Kilner told The Hollywood Reporter that season 2 has “eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour".

She added that showrunner Ryan Condal made the choice “to give it a good opening and a good ending,” and teased that the episodes are “jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events".

George RR Martin wrote on his blog previously that he was still "thrilled" that the show gets to have "10 hours every season to tell our tale".

He added that "it is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish".

House of the Dragon season 2 plot: What happens next?

Picking up where season 1 left off, House of the Dragon's next chapter will dive headfirst into the devastating Targaryen civil war, known among fans as the Dance of the Dragons.

The conflict will see the citizens and nobles of Westeros side with who they want to see take the Iron Throne, with their options being Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen and the young King Aegon II Targaryen.

Of course, Rhaenyra will want revenge after the horrifying death of Prince Lucerys Velaryon in the season 1 finale. If the series follows the book, expect a particularly brutal response to what happened.

Expect more gory violence to ensue as well as quieter, more emotional scenes as the human cost of the war is explored, which will take a particularly heavy toll on former friends Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower.

House of the Dragon writer and executive producer Sara Hess has also told The Hollywood Reporter that season 2 will examine the uncomfortable dynamic between Rhaenyra and her husband/uncle Daemon.

"Right now, we’re writing season two and figuring out, what is the nature of his relationship with Rhaenyra? There are many interpretations [in Fire & Blood] to that," she said.

The season finale certainly outlined the more toxic elements of their marriage. Is this a sign of things to come?

The second season will also dramatically open up the focus to the entire ensemble gang instead of the few central characters in the first run, but still stay grounded in the story of Rhaenyra and Alicent.

Showrunner Ryan Condal noted to Entertainment Weekly that the second run "does fall into that ensemble piece where you're following multiple characters. They're not all in the same place, but this is still very much a story of Alicent and Rhaenyra and their families pitted against each other".

He added: "We're not gonna suddenly pull away from telling their stories. It's just the nature of this thing, in season 2, it really opens up the world in a big way and the sprawl grows quite a bit."

Showrunner Ryan Condal has also explained that they're upping the scale of the dragons in season 2, confirming to Deadline that there are five new fire-breathers on their way.

Plus, writer Sara Hess has teased that the new season will cover one of the most brutal storylines covered in the book A Dance of Dragons, known to fans simply as Blood and Cheese.

It concerns two characters who are hired by Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) to carry out a particularly nasty mission against Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) – with rather grisly consequences.

Asked in a recent interview with Variety if this plot point would feature in the second run, Hess responded: “We are currently writing the finale of season 2. I don’t think you will be disappointed."

The second season of the series is also compared to the third to sixth seasons of Game of Thrones in execution.

Speaking at the Deadline Contenders TV panel back in April, Condal said: “I’m excited to pick up where we left off. Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones. We’ve always talked about this particular tale, George [R R Martin] has too, of being a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy."

He continued: "This series is very much about a house tearing itself apart from within. Now that all those pieces have been set on the board, I’m really excited to tell the next chapter, to see what happens now that Viserys is gone and no longer keeping a lid on things.”

Is there a House of the Dragon season 2 trailer?

Yes! Check out the fiery, action-packed teaser trailer below.

Following this, two more trailers were released on Thursday 21st March 2024 - one for the Blacks and one for the Greens.

Here's the trailer for Team Black aka Team Rhaenyra.

Then there's the trailer for Team Green aka Team Aegon.

Read more:

• How to watch House of the Dragon – where can you stream?
• House of the Dragon planned to last three or four seasons
• When is House of the Dragon set? Game of Thrones timeline explained
• Where was House of the Dragon filmed?
• What is Dark Sister in House of the Dragon?
• What book is House of the Dragon based on? Fire and Blood book changes
• Your guide to the dragons of House of the Dragon
• Game of Thrones books in order: A Song of Ice and Fire and more

House of the Dragon season two will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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