House of the Dragon season 2: release date, trailer, cast list, plot synopsis, and more

House of the Dragon season 2 will kickstart The Dance of the Dragons

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• Out now on Max/HBO (US), Sky/Now TV (UK), and Binge/Foxtel (Australia)- Contains eight episodes- Numerous trailers released- Key cast members from season 1 will return- New characters revealed- Plot synopsis revealed- Third season is in development

All must choose – to watchHouse of the Dragonseason 2. The bloody and melodramatic fantasy show’s second chapter is ready to roar onto our screens, so it’s not only time to decide which side of the Targaryen civil war you’re on, but also to prepare for the hugely successfulGame of Thrones(GoT) prequel’s return.

Below, you’ll find a comprehensive rundown of everything worth knowing aboutHouse of the Dragon’s (HotD) sophomore installment. That includes its official launch date, release schedule, full cast list of Team Black and Team Green’s members, plot details, and the hitMaxseries' future. Before you dive in, though, read our spoiler-freereview ofHouse of the Dragonseason 2’s first four episodes.

Major spoilers follow forHouse of the Dragon’s first season 1. We also discusspossible spoilers for its follow-up, too.

House of the Dragon season 2 release date and schedule

House of the Dragon season2 is out in full on Max/HBO (US), Sky/Now TV (UK), and Binge/Foxtel (Australia).

Season 2 is shorter than its predecessor, too. It comprises eight episodes instead of the usual 10, which was an intentional decision on its co-creators' part. Indeed, speaking to TechRadar,House of the Dragon’s new showrunner Ryan Condal defended season 2’s eight-episode arc, saying: “We had a clear path of view to the end and knew what the end of this particular chapter in the Targaryen history was. Looking at that, and knowing essentially how much storytelling time we needed to get there, there was a bit of a rebalancing of the narrative that was necessary to happen. This eight-episode cadence helped us to find that.”

House of the Dragon season 2 trailer

The last of numerous teasers heralding the show’s return,House of the Dragonseason 2’s final trailer teased plenty of fire and blood, plus a very mysterious character’s appearance, in mid-May.

Season 2’s latest round of footage arrived one monthafter three fiery showdown-style trailers, which also confirmedHouse of the Dragon’s return date. You can watch the main one of those teasers below, or catch theTeam BlackandTeam Greentrailers via these links instead.

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Missed the very first trailer last december, which itteases a fiery and bloody beginning to The Dance of the Dragons, aka the Targaryen civil war? You can view that teaser below, too:

House of the Dragon season 2 cast

Spoilers follow for House of the Dragon season 1.

Here’s who’s returning forHouse of the Dragonseason 2:

The most notable absence from that list is Paddy Considine. He played King Viserys in the show’s first season but, following his death via natural causes in the final episode, he won’t return. Elliot Grihault, who played Lucerys ‘Luke’ Velaryon (Rhaenyra’s second born) in season 1, isn’t back, either. Luke and his dragon Arrax were killed by Aemond and the latter’s dragon Vhagar inHouse of the Dragon’s season 1 finale.

There are plenty of new characters to look out for season 2, though. Here’s a brief rundown of the most important newcomers:

House of the Dragon season 2 story speculation

Full spoilers follow forHouse of the Dragonseason 1.

HBO hasn’t released a story brief forHouse of the Dragonseason 2, but we know it’ll mark the true beginning of The Dance of the Dragons, aka the brutal Targaryen civil war that not only nearly wipes out Houses Targaryen and Hightower, but devastates the continent of Westeros as a whole.

Season 2’s story, then, picks up in the days following the emotionally stunning events depicted in the season 1 finale – namely, Aemon and Vhagar’s murdering of Luke and Arrax. Unsurprisingly, Luke’s death devastates his mother Rhaenyra, and the wider Targaryen and Velaryon families, which sets The Dance of the Dragons in motion.

Speaking toEntertainment Weekly(EW), Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra, said: “The moment that she receives the news of Luke’s passing, that attempt at mediation [with Alicent] crumbles. 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 rain might be off for season 2.”

The conflict over who has claim to – and will eventually reign on – the Iron Throne burns bright heading intoHouse of the Dragonseason 2, too. Season 1 episode 9 saw Prince Aegon II – Alicent’s second born and Rhaenyra’s half-brother – become Westeros' new monarch, much to Rhaenyra’s fury. Indeed, Rhaenyra’s father Viserys continually stated that his only child would become the continent’s next ruler upon his passing. However, a misunderstanding – if that’s the right word to use – between Alicent (Viserys' second wife and Aegon II’s mother) and Viserys sees Alicent make a stunning move to install her son as Westeros' new king.

As much as viewers think Rhaenyra has been betrayed by her former best friend and extended family, things aren’t as black and white (or should that be black and green?) as they seem. Indeed, while there are two clear sides to the fight, the allegiance of the many key figures and players – in true Martin style – are most certainly blurred.

“This is not a story of goodies and baddies, black hats and white hats,” Condal told EW. “It’s a story of this family that’s been rent open by this dispute over who is meant to wear the crown after Viserys passes.

“Some people think it’s Rhaenyra, some people think it’s Aegon, and then there are other people within who think, ‘Why should it be one of the two of them? Maybe it should be somebody else. Maybe it should be me!’ The fun of this Greek tragedy is seeing, when you introduce a power vacuum to a world like this, how all of these individuals react.”

All Must Choose. Season 2 of the HBO Original Series #HouseoftheDragon premieres June 16 on Max. #HOTDS2 pic.twitter.com/OZcYb9NtMJMay 22, 2024

Expanding on what we can expect from said brutal conflict, Condal explained (in a separateEWarticle): “It’s really a cold war because each side is trying to undeniably win the throne for themselves without going to all-out dragon war. We do that through plotting and backstabbing and assassination and spy games and all the things that you would see in a classic James Bond Cold War thriller.”

In keeping with the show’s name, Condal also toldDeadlinethat we’ll see new dragons in season 2. Elaborating on the hardships of bringing these giant, fire-breathing winged beats to life via CGI, Condal also said (via EW): “I think it was incumbent upon us to try to rise and meet that challenge, but doing so in a way that didn’t seem like we were making a dragon from a different show – a ‘fantasy dragon,’ for lack of a better word. So Sunfyre [one of season 2’s new dragons] had to exist as a cut above that would be recognized as distinctly beautiful within a world that has 17 other dragons running around.”

If you’ve found it hard to keep track of all the human characters in the series so far, you might face a similar problem with these mythical monsters. Still, in a series based around dragons, you can never have enough of them. Justdon’t expect season 2 to be filled with “big dragon events”, as Condal told TechRadar.

Considering it’s aThronesprecursor,House of the Dragon’s first season had its fair share of call backs. Season 2 will also deliver more on that front, including a return to The Wall, which Rhaenyra’s eldest son Jacaerys travels to in order to rally the Starks – led by Lord Cregan – to fight for the Targaryens in the war to come.

“He [Cregan] is very powerful,” Condal toldEW. “Everybody’s vying for his army. He’s quite a bit younger than Ned Stark was, so it’s interesting to see the Young Wolf, the young Stark lord, and how he carries himself in the world, and the burden that’s on his shoulders being the Warden of the North. I’m excited for the audience to see and experience that.”

The Wall won’t be the only location in season 2 thatGoTfans will recognize. Harrenhaal will also play a prominent role this season, with Condal teasing: “Harrenhal definitely is its own character in the show. It had its own character in the original books [and] in the original series when Arya was playing cup bearer for Tywin there. Other than the Red Keep, it’s probably the most talked-about, storied castle in Westeros, and we really wanted to pay service to it. Whether it’s real or rumored, it does have this supernatural aura around it that does put people off. We were excited to play that out as storytellers.”

Even though it’s shorter than its forebear, season 2 will also devote more screen time to the series' supporting cast, some of whom didn’t get more service last time around.

“The characters that I immediately wanted to get into are the characters that we didn’t get to spend a ton of time with at the end of the season because of the needing to move through 20 years of narrative,” Condal told EW. “We did not get to spend a lot of time with Aemond, Helaena, Jace, Baela, or Rhaena. Those characters are so immediately connected to Rhaenyra, Alicent, Daemon, Viserys, and Otto that we wanted to immediately shine the spotlight on them and get into their internal lives and what they make of all of this.”

Fret not, Daemon fans, for everyone’s favorite hot-headed, anti-heroic black sheep of the Targaryen family will get plenty of play in season 2 as well. In a chat withVariety, Matt Smith (who played Daemon) teased: “You never really know which way he’s going to go. I always viewed him as an agent of chaos… We definitely meet Daemon at a point of crisis in this situation, and in many ways, it’s a different version of him. It’s one that’s much weaker… We start to see the mask slip. Life becomes more difficult, and he gets soft around the edges. He starts to unravel.”

Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin, who created theGame of Thronesfranchise, has expressed how “cool” he found all the “weird ass stuff” that Condal and his fellow writers have included (perDeadline). Speaking toThe Hollywood Reporter, Condal also revealed that fans can expect more where that came from, with their favorite characters “conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies, and riding their dragons into battle”.

With multiple new dragons and fascinating characters, plus a plot ripe for unraveling a thread of deceit, discord, and war,House of the Dragonseason 2 will be filled with more ofGame of Thrones' epically explosive tales. There’ll plenty for those of an action mindset to enjoy, too – Condal telling EW that season 2 has “two of the largest sequences that certainly I’ve ever done… certainly thatHouse of the Dragonhas ever done”. While we wait for next season to arrive, read up onfive big questionsHouse of the Dragonseason 2 needs to tackle.

Where to watch House of the Dragon

Planning to watchHouse of the Dragonseason 1 again (or stream it for the first time) before its successor takes flight? It’s available to stream right now on Max in the US, Sky Atlantic and Now TV in the UK, and Binge and Foxtel in Australia.

Game of Thrones' eight seasons can also be watched on these platforms so, if you want to become engrossed in more of Martin’s cut-throat fantasy world, you can catch every episode to date on those services. Once you’re done, see if you agree with our ranking ofbestGame of Thronesseasons.

House of the Dragon season 3: is it happening?

House of the Dragonseason 2 won’t be the show’s last entry. Speaking to TechRadar, Condalconfirmed thatHouse of the Dragon’s third season was in the early stages of development, with script work currently being conducted. HBO has sinceconfirmed thatHouse of the Dragonseason 3 is officially in development.

Given the show’s immense popularity, and the desire of its cast and crew to tell the whole story written in ‘Fire & Blood’, George R.R. Martin’s novel that covers House Targaryen’s reign over Westeros and wider dynasty, there was bound to be another entry on the way after season 2. Here’s hoping there’ll be plenty more seasons to come after the third, too.

For more Max TV show-based coverage, read our guides onThe Last of Usseason 2andEuphoriaseason 3. Alternatively, watch one of thebest Max movieson the platform, or learn about all of thenew Max moviesthat will arrive in June.

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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