House of the Dragon fans had two choices Thursday when HBO dropped separate trailers for the Game of Thrones prequel’s anticipated second season.
The first trailer, called Team Black, focuses on Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and their forces on Dragonstone.
The second, called Team Green, focuses on the King’s Landing group of Alicent (Olivia Cooke), her father Otto (Rhys Ifans) and her children King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell).
House Of The Dragon follows the feud between Alicent and Rhaenyra as they battle to see who will ultimately rule from the Iron Throne.
Now, diehard fans of the show can take their side by watching a trailer that follows the storyline of Dragonstone of King’s Landing.
House of the Dragon fans had two choices on Thursday when HBO dropped separate trailers for the anticipated second season; Emma D’Arcy depicted as Rhaenyra
The second, called Team Green, focuses on the King’s Landing group of Alicent (Olivia Cooke, pictured), her father Otto (Rhys Ifans) and her children
The succession struggle is kicked into high gear by the death of the aging King Viserys I (Harry Lloyd), whose final demise is depicted in season one.
Alicent Hightower was the second and much younger wife of King Viserys, and their son Aegon therefore becomes king after his father’s death.
Rhaenyra is Viserys’ daughter by his first wife, who died of a caesarean section forced on her by her husband against her will.
Prince Daemon, meanwhile, is Rhaenyra’s sexually insatiable uncle who also eventually becomes her lover and then marries her.
Daemon and Rhaenyra gather their forces on Dragonstone and prepare their followers to wage war and conquer the Iron Throne.
At the beginning of the Black Trailer – the one dedicated to Rhaenyra – she is seen laying out her claim to the Iron Throne.
“My father chose me, his firstborn child, to succeed him,” she says. “He stood by his decision until his death, and yet Alicent’s son sits on my throne.”
Sitting at a table with her advisors, including her grinning uncle-turned-husband Daemon, she says with grim determination, “I intend to fight this war and win.”
The succession struggle is kicked into high gear by the death of the aging King Viserys I (Harry Lloyd), whose final demise is depicted in season one.
Rhaenyra (pictured) is Viserys’ daughter by his first wife, who died from a caesarean section that her husband forced her against her will
Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), meanwhile, is Rhaenyra’s sexually insatiable uncle who also eventually becomes her lover and then marries her
Daemon and Rhaenyra gather their forces on Dragonstone and prepare their followers to wage war and conquer the Iron Throne.
The formidable forces under her command include her majestic yellow dragon Styrax, who rages across the sea.
Rhaenyra’s son Jacaerys ‘Jace’ Velaryon (Harry Collett) can be heard rallying the troops in support of his mother’s cause.
“The empire will soon tear itself apart if its people do not remember the oaths sworn to King Viserys and his rightful heir,” Jace says.
Rhaenyra’s uncle Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) then confronts the problem his team faces as they face off against Alicent’s family, the Hightowers.
“The Hightowers are marching,” Corlys says with grave foreboding during a dockside conversation with Rhaenyra. “You have to crush this animal by the head.”
Daemon, Rhaenyra’s fearsome soldier and her incestuous wife, can then be seen venturing out into the rain with his sword and armor.
“Our terms are very simple,” he says lightly to his enemies: “renounce the false king and bow the knee to the queen, otherwise your house will burn.”
We then see soldiers on horseback running towards each other in a forest, about to clash in what promises to be a gruesome battle.
The war has apparently begun and Rhaenyra joins the fray herself, as she is seen on Styrax’s back as her dragon swoops down, presumably towards an enemy.
Corlys’ wife Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who has a dragon of her own, emerges from the bloody conflict as the voice of reason.
“If the desire to kill and burn takes over and reason is forgotten, we will not even remember what started the war in the first place,” says Rhaenys.
As the Black Trailer comes to a close, you see Rhaenyra develop her own doubts and quietly confess, “I’m afraid of what I started.”