What to expect from House of the Dragon season two

Filming is expected to start soon on the second season of House of the Dragon, sparking fresh speculation over what will happen in the new instalment of the fantasy drama.

Season one drew 20 million viewers for its premiere, making it the largest audience for any new original series in HBO history, and received critical praise.

However, the second season is “shaping up to be very different”, said GQ.

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Here is what we know so far.

What happened in House of the Dragon season one?

Adapted from George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood and set more than 150 years before Martin’s previous HBO blockbuster Game of Thrones, season one of House of the Dragon followed the kings of Westeros, House Targaryen and another brutal battle to sit on the Iron Throne.

It was “visually sumptuous, well-acted (for the most part), crisply written and cleverly pitched”, said Ben Dowell in The Times, while Lucy Mangan at The Guardian felt that “in short, all is as it was in GoT’s heyday”.

What will happen in season two?

House of the Dragon series two will feature the familial war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

“There are simply no two ways about it,” said Digital Spy, the thing that will happen is “war”. “We have danced in the preamble of the civil war to come”, and so the “time for action is upon us”.

Season two is also “already guaranteed to avoid one of season one’s biggest problems, the copious and often confusing” time jumps, said Screen Rant.

The show is “almost certainly going to find itself on surer footing” in season two and “many will no doubt be relieved to know House of the Dragon season two has a much more linear timeline planned”.

Who will appear in House of the Dragon season two?

Most of the major actors from the first season of the series are expected to return as their characters “transition from young Westerosi socialites to wartime political leaders”, said Collider.

You’d expect the “lion’s share of the ensemble not beheaded at the jawline or, indeed, perished of old age to come back for the follow-up”, said GQ.

Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke will return to their roles as the older versions of rivals Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower respectively. Meanwhile, Matt Smith is expected to depict Rhaenyra’s husband-uncle Daemon Targaryen.

However, added GQ, there will be a change behind the scenes as the “Thrones mainstay” and co-showrunner on the premiere season of Dragon, Miguel Sapochnik, has stepped down.

Despite claims that his exit was amicable, Puck News reported that the ex-showrunner “bailed after a protracted standoff over his wife and her involvement in the show.”

According to GQ: “His partner in question, Alexis Raben, was a credited producer on season one and appeared in four episodes as Talya, a lady-in-waiting to Olivia Cooke’s Alicent.” Raben was not kept on as a producer for season two, said the magazine.

Another absentee will be Paddy Considine, as King Viserys has “hung his crown up on the Iron Throne, leaving his squabbling children to cut each other down on their way to retrieving it”, said Digital Spy.

What does Martin say about the series?

House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, which tells the history of House Targaryen and their bloody civil war. Martin told the Hollywood Reporter that there is “no character everybody’s going to love” because they’re “all flawed”.

Is there a release date yet?

No. Hoy90, a regional Spanish newspaper, reported that the HBO production would return to Cáceres for filming in early 2023.

“You’d think that’ll place the second season at some point in 2024,” said GQ, but showrunner Ryan Condal didn’t rule out a 2023 release in an interview with Variety.

However, in an interview with Vulture, HBO chief Casey Bloys did just that when he said: “Don’t expect it in ’23, but I think sometime in ’24.”