ANDcome to dedicated The Game of Thrones viewers, the first season of Dragon House I had a lot to keep in order.
After several traumatic birth scenes, countless acts of betrayal, and a series of (somewhat confusing) time jumps, the show culminated in the final straw that broke the proverbial dragon’s back and started the War. Civil Targaryen: the murder of Lucerys Velaryon and her dragon, Arrax, of Aemond Targaryen and his dragon, Vhagar. Now, with the second season set to premiere on June 16th – almost two years after the first season – it’s time to remember the roots of these family feuds.
Almost 170 years before the events of The Game of Thrones Taking place in Westeros, the Targaryen Civil War, known colloquially as the Dance of the Dragons, was a war of succession that broke out between two rival factions of House Targaryen over who would ascend the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms after the death of King Viserys I Targaryen (played in Dragon House by Paddy Considine). Those who supported Viserys’ eldest daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), as the rightful heir were known as the Blacks, while those who supported her younger half-brother, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), They were the Greens. .
In the 1st season of Dragon HouseViserys upside down the Seven Kingdoms custom of male primogeniture by naming Rhaenyra as his heir after his first wife, Aemma (Sian Brooke), died giving birth to their son, Baelon. The baby also died a day later.
At the time Rhaenyra was named heir, she was not only Viserys’s only daughter, but she was also chosen over her uncle, Viserys’s volatile younger brother Daemon (Matt Smith), who was considered an unsuitable prospect to be with. become king. However, after Viserys took Rhaenyra’s childhood best friend Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) as his second wife, Alicent gave birth to two sons, Aegon II and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who posed an inherent challenge to the claim. from Rhaenyra to the throne.
Over the years, animosity between the two sides grew, with shifting alliances, brutal displays of violence, and deadly webs of lies that further complicated matters. Despite all this, an ill Viserys remained steadfast in his choice of Rhaenyra as heir until the moment of her death. Unfortunately, Alicent’s confusion over Viserys’s final words and the determination of her father – Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the king’s right-hand man – to place his own bloodline on the throne led to a power struggle that resulted in the death of the Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault). And then there was the war.
Here’s what you should remember about the conflict between Greens and Blacks before Dragon House Season 2.
What caused the fight between Rhaenyra and Alicent?
In addition to the whole Alicent marrying Rhaenyra’s father thing, there were some other defining events that irreconcilably fractured the duo’s sisterly bond.
In episode 4, Daemon took his young niece Rhaenyra headed out to King’s Landing for a night of debauchery that ended with her returning to the castle and taking her sworn Kingsguard protector, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), to bed. After Otto reported the rumors about Rhaenyra and Daemon to Viserys, Rhaenyra swore to Alicent, in memory of her mother, that Daemon never touched her and that her virtue was intact. Her lies led Alicent to defend Rhaenyra to Viserys and Viserys to dismiss Otto as Hand of the King. However, when Alicent later discovered the truth from Ser Criston about what happened that night, she turned against Rhaenyra.
This episode established the root of all the problems between them: Alicent believed that she had been forced into a marriage where she would have to sacrifice what she wanted to defend the kingdom and the law while Rhaenyra despised duty and did what she wanted. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, saw Alicent as a hypocrite who hid her jealous and bitter nature.
Years later, after Rhaenyra married Laenor Velaryon (John MacMillan) – who Rhaenyra knew was secretly gay – and had three children whose appearance made it clear they were the children of her lover, Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr), rather than Laenor, Alicent and her. The children made it their mission to frequently and not so discreetly question their paternity. This came to a head when the entire Targaryen clan gathered at Castle Driftmark for the funeral of Laenor’s sister and Daemon’s second wife, Laena (Nanna Blondell).
After Aemond secretly claimed Laena’s ancient dragon Vhagar as his own, a fight broke out that pitted Aemond against Rhaenyra’s sons Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Lucerys and Daemon’s daughters Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell), and resulted in the murder of Lucerys. Aemond’s eye. Alicent demanded one of Lucerys’s own eyes in retribution, and when the sick King Viserys denied her, she attacked Rhaenyra with a dagger and cut off her arm. Rhaenyra and Daemon then put a plan into action to fake Laenor’s death so they could finally marry and bolster Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne.
After Viserys’ death, Alicent and Otto essentially stole Rhaenyra’s throne, moving to crown Aegon as quickly as possible in order to legitimize him as king. However, Rhaenyra came to the conclusion that his duty was to stabilize and bring peace to the kingdom, rather than plunging it into war, and was considering accepting the peace terms that Otto handed to Dragonstone. That is, until the moment she learned of her son Lucerys’ death.
Who is on whose side?
As things stand now, the Blacks have five dragon riders of riding age – Rhaenyra, Daemon, Jace, Baela, and Viserys’ cousin Rhaenys (Eve Best) – as well as access to the unclaimed dragons that reside in Stone. of the Dragon, giving them the upper hand when it comes to the very important advantage of the dragon’s power. Rhaenyra also has the support of Rhaenys’ husband Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) – whose fleet of ships controls the seas – and a few loyalists. members of the Royal Guard.
However, thanks to Aemond, the Greens have Vhagar – the largest and arguably most powerful dragon – in addition to the dragons linked to Aegon and his sister/wife Helaena (Phia Sagan), Sunfyre and Dreamfyre. They also have the inherent advantage of currently controlling the throne, the small council, and the Kingsguard led by Ser Criston.
Alliances with several of the Great Houses of Westeros are still up in the air, but by the end of Season 1, House Lannister, House Baratheon, and House Strong – led by Alicent’s unofficial Master of the Whisperers, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) – had sided with the Greens. Meanwhile, the Blacks had the support of House Arryn and House Stark, with Rhaenyra having sent Jace as an envoy to both of his strongholds, the Eyrie and Winterfell.
What is the next?
Since Dragon House is based on the book by George R.R. Martin A song of ice and fire companion romance Fire and Blood, many of the details about how the war unfolds are already available. We’ll avoid spoilers here, but suffice it to say that a violent reckoning is on the way for both sides.
“Paradise lost, I think, is the best way to describe what’s happening here in Dragon House“, said showrunner Ryan Condal Entertainment tonight in the premiere of the show’s 2nd season. “We are adapting Fire and Blood. We are being faithful to the story that is written in the book.”
The upcoming season will also feature two of the biggest battle sequences the series has ever done, according to Condal. “Battles are episodes in themselves,” he said Collider. “They both surpass everything we did in the first season. These are episodes within episodes.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
