It was reported that the trailer for the second season of House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, would be released this Thursday. What no one expected is that HBO would release two different videos, one for each side in the dynastic war between the women of the Targaryen family, which can be seen on the Max content platform on June 17.
Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. As each side believes theirs is the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, the trailers for the Green and Black Councils reflect those two perspectives in separate but complementary halves of the same story.
HBO, therefore, repeats the maneuver of the last seasons of Game of Thrones when it encouraged the public to take a position in the battle for the Iron Throne, when then the Stark, Targaryen and Lannister families were mainly disputed.
“A few weeks ago my husband was alive and the kingdom was at peace. Even as he was dying, he knew that the kingdom would not accept a queen, let Rhaenyra’s followers believe what they want: Viserys wanted Aegon to succeed him,” explains Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower in the video of the green cause that she leads in defense of her children. .
“My father chose me, his firstborn, to succeed him. He upheld his decision until his death and yet Alicent’s son occupies my throne. “I intend to fight this war and win it,” says Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra. In House of the Dragon she has made controversial decisions (such as marrying her uncle Daemon) but there is no lack of validity in her reasoning: her father wanted her to be queen although Alicent, due to a misunderstanding, believe the opposite.
Returning this season are Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans. Also returning are Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.
New faces also join the cast: Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.
The second season, which will have eight episodes, is creatively led by Ryan Condal, who serves as showrunner and created House of the Dragon with George R.R. Martin, author of the fantastic universe of Westeros and the book Fire and Blood that narrates the Dance of Dragons, that is, the confrontation between Targaryens for power, approximately 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
