WARNING: Season one spoilers ahead
The first trailer for season 2 of Games of Thrones’ spin off House of the Dragon has dropped and if war was beckoning at the end of the last season, it’s about to explode as series two ramps up.
As Princess Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best, says ominously in the season two teaser: “There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin. And no war so bloody as a war between dragons”.
And there are dragons aplenty in the new HOTD trailer which was released at 5.15am AEST at comic convention CCXP23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A host of new actors has also been announced for season two.
The wonders, and the horrors, of Westeros will grace the screens of BINGE and Foxtel in the early winter of 2024 in Australia.
Stream House of Dragon on BINGE. New BINGE customers get a 14-day free trial. Sign up at binge.com.au
Based on the novel Fire and Blood by George R R Martin and created with showrunner Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon 2 will see more gory violence, weird sex, massive battles, Machiavellian machinations and, of course, fire breathing dragons.
Season one focused on House Targaryen at the apex of its power – and just as its rule over Westeros began to wane and war was afoot.
King Viserys I Targaryen, the fifth king of the Seven Kingdoms, died towards the end of the first season, setting off a battle of succession.
“Errors were made in the hours following King Viserys’ death,” echoes in the opening seconds of the season two trailer as Rhaenyra Targaryen looks over a desolate landscape.
Big names from season one including Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Tom Glynn-Carney, Steve Toussaint and Rhys Ifans all emerge.
“The wars will be fought; many will die; and the victor will eventually ascend the throne,” says Alicent Hightower, played by Olivia Cooke, as the armies march.
As well as a preponderance of dragons there are at least two beheadings, a bevy of burnings and Alicent being dragged way in a cacophony of violence – and all in just 60 seconds.
It has already been announced that Abubakar Salim would be joining the cast as Alyn of Hull alongside Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, and Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong.
Along with the trailer a slew of new actors have been revealed as joining HOTD2 including Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull and Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome.
HBO, and sister streamer Max, produce House of the Dragon and a slew of other big name shows such as The White Lotus, The Last of Us and Sex and the City spin off… And Just Like That, which air in Australia on Foxtel’s platforms.
The program maker has confirmed another GOT spin off is in the works. A King of the Seven Kingdoms will start production early in 2024 now the various US writers’ and actors’ strikes have concluded. adapting Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, it will be a prequel to GOT focusing on Sir Duncan the Tall and the future King Aegon V Targaryen.
“We always have Game of Thrones scripts, and ideas, in development,” HBO chief executive Casey Bloys said in New York last month.
Anything GOT related is going to be a big budget spectacular.
It’s been reported HOTD season one cost a cool $300 million to produce. But with 30 million watching each episode in the US alone, it was a rolled gold hit.
In Australia, 1.25 million people watched the first episode of House of Dragon within a week of it being aired. It became the biggest premiere of all time on BINGE.