REVIEW: House of the Dragon S02 E01 premieres with blood in the eyes!

It took a while, but it finally arrived. The first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon), spin off of the acclaimed Game of Thrones, was shown this Sunday, on HBO and the streaming service Max. In total, there will be eight episodes, released weekly on Sundays.

Between bloody deaths, strategic marriages, births and epic disputes for the throne, our “Keeping Up With the Targaryens” favorite returned to shake up Sundays and cause heated debates between the defenders of the green team against the black team. Check out our review of the first episode, A Son for a Son (A Son for a Son), remembering that the following content there are spoilers:

Recap of the first season

A série The Dragon House is set 200 years before the events covered in Game of Thrones. It all begins with the death of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the fourth Targaryen king to assume the Iron Throne. Following this event, the council was convened to decide who would be the next ruler of Westeros. Even though Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) proved to be the best option, as she was a woman in a land of male kings, she was passed over in favor of her cousin Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine).

Viserys's reign proved to be mostly peaceful, but it had a visible problem: the difficulty in producing a male heir. In one of his recurring attempts, his wife ended up dying during childbirth, as well as his son. So, after this traumatic event, the king decides to break the translation and appoints his only daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock and Emma D'Arcy) as the future queen. The choice, seen as a controversial gesture, opens a sequence of events that lead to a great war.

Following Viserys' announcement, many of the powerful houses around tried to convince him to remarry and resume his attempts to have a son – and of course, all with an interest in increasing privileges by adding their names to the Targaryens. First in line is the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who offers his own daughter Alicent Hightower (played by Emma Carey and Olivia Cooke) to Viserys. Most disturbingly, Alicent was a great friend of Rhaenyra, the king's daughter. But over time he begins to see her with different eyes, they get married and have a son together, Aegon II.

So far so good, right? Given that Game of Thrones it had many more immoral layers. Wrong. The Dragon House (House of the Dragon) it also brings out the worst of Westeros, its sick legacy of incest and a big soap opera with relationships that weave politics, desires and ulterior motives. The Targaryens themselves already had a reputation for perpetuating the practice, so Rhaenyra's interest in her own uncle Daemon soon becomes clear.

But this relationship takes time to happen, so in the meantime she becomes involved with a knight called Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), even though he is already married to Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan) – who in turn is homosexual. Both agree to maintain their fake marriage and live their romantic adventures in secret.

Upset by the whole situation and always trying to find a solution, Cole suggests to Rhaenyra that the two of them leave Westeros and she gives up her right to the Iron Throne. Since she's not stupid or anything, she clearly refuses. Naturally the relationship ends and, affected by Rhaenyra's imposition, the knight revolts and kills Laenor's lover in the middle of his marriage to the heiress. As if the scene wasn't enough, Cole even joins Alicent's team, vowing to ensure that Rhaenyra never gains her position as ruler.

After this succession of events, The Dragon House (House of the Dragon) presents us with a time jump of 10 years. In this new decade, Rhaenyra and Laenor are still married and now have three children. What was supposed to be a big secret (but not much) is that these children are not the result of the marriage with Laenor, but rather of Rhaenyra's new lover, Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr). This ends up serving as ammunition for Alicent, who commits herself to investigating the situation and counts on the help of Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), Harwin's brother – who, as a result, orders the murder of his brother and father. 

A small curiosity and easter-egg, in fact, is that Larys is known as Master of Whispers and holds the same position that Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) had on the Small Council in Game of Thrones.

In the midst of these events, Daemon's second wife ends up dying and her funeral brings together several houses. During this period, a big fight takes place between Rhaenyra, Alicent and their respective children, which results in the loss of one of the eyes of Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), the latter's son. In parallel, Daemon helps Laenor fake her death so that she can escape across the Narrow Sea and live her life freely. Such an act is extremely convenient, as he will now be able to marry his niece and, consequently, help strengthen her claim to the throne.

Okay, but what about Viserys? Then… he started to have serious health problems. If the families were still alive and started fighting for the throne, with their death everything gets worse. But years before, when he decided to announce Rhaenyra as heir, he even confided in his daughter a secret that only the rulers of Westeros knew – the famous prophecy dictated by Aegon the Conqueror, named after "The Chronicles of ice and Fire". This prediction ends up happening in Game of Thrones, as it dictated the emergence of something so dark (Night King and White Walkers) who would need the unity of the entire kingdom to defeat him.

Anyway, going back to the night of Viserys' death, he ends up whispering to Alicent something difficult to decipher. Strategist that she is, Alicent claims to have heard her son's name, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), and a phrase that would suggest that Viserys was the one to inherit the Iron Throne, instead of Rhaenyra, and he was just was raving about the prophecy. 

Almost instantly, Alicent informs her father, Otto, of what happened, who promptly calls a meeting with the allies (referred to here as the Green team/Green Council). Here, they actually plan to put Aegon II on the throne and expel (read kill) all those who are loyal to Rhaenyra, making them choose to flee King's Landing. Some manage to escape, but Aegon II actually takes power.

The true heiress retreats and flees King's Landing to Dragonstone, where she meets with the Black/Black Council team to structure the next steps. By logic, they understand that they need allies more than ever. So, Rhaenyra sends two of her children, Jace (Harry Collett), who is the eldest, and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), the middle, to Winterfell and Storm's End, respectively, to convince the Starks and Baratheons to support your side.

As we are talking about the Westeros universe, of course nothing went as expected. Once Lucerys arrives at her destination, she encounters Alicent's son Aemond and his gigantic dragon Vhagar. Aemond wins the Baratheon alliance and offers to marry one of the family's daughters. Meanwhile, Lucerys understands that she has lost the battle and leaves with her little dragon Arrax, but in a move of perversity, Aemond follows him with his dragon, starting one of the most shocking scenes of the first season, which results in the little one's death. boy. Remember:

The first season of The Dragon House (House of the Dragon) ends with Daemon communicating to Rhaenyra about the death of his son and the anger in his eyes upon learning everything that happened, which further enhances his desire for revenge and the dispute for the iron throne. 

Watch the official recap of the first season in video:

A Son for a Son

The second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) begins at the exact moment where we left off in the last episode of the first season: in Rhaenyra's fury over the death of her son Lucerys, the Iron Throne usurped by the Green Council and the accommodation of Aegon II as king.  

So if the first season boiled down to the saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, the second season begins with A Son for a Son (A Son for a Son, name of the episode in English). 

Clues about Blood & Cheese at the beginning of the episode

The biggest event in this episode, which features the Black Council's first revenge movement, is when Daemon follows Mysaria's (Sonoya Mizuno) advice and hires two assassins to avenge the death of Luke, Rhaenyra's son. The idea was to kill Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), but everything went differently than planned.

As mentioned, Westeros without shocking plots is not Westeros. At the end of the first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon), Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart) sneak into the Red Keep and murder Jaehaerys, Aegon's heir son with his sister Healena.

The episode itself drops some hints of what was to come. At the beginning, Aegon comments that he wanted to take his son to the Small Council, but Helaena responds that she is afraid of rats – something that leaves everyone present confused and only becomes clear at the end of the episode. Remembering that she has prophetic gifts that have been manifested since the first season.

Alicent's point of view

At one point, we get to see a side of Alicent that still has affection for her former friend Rhaenyra. She lights a candle in memory of Lucerys between her prayers. But that could change quickly, as his grandson's murder followed.

When running quickly to warn Alicent about the murder, Helaena comes across her mother in bed with Ser Criston Cole and understands why the guard hadn't protected her and remained on duty at her door as he should have.

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) roll around in bed together twice throughout the episode. Helaena saw them right after Jaehaerys was murdered, so she knows why Criston wasn't protecting her like she should have.

Presentation of Cregan Stark 

In the first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) We are introduced to Ned Stark's distant relative, Cregan (Tom Taylor), who in turn carries the emblematic Valyrian steel sword on his back (which 200 years later would put an end to Ned himself).

With its introduction, we are taken back to Winterfell and the Wall, clear references to the story of the predecessor Game of Thrones. 

This happens because Jacaerys, Rhaenyra's son, goes to the Wall in the North to request help from their army – that mission at the end of the first season. Fortunately, this was a successful mission and Cregan is willing to help him with an army.

Rhaenyra's mourning 

Unfortunately, there is no mood to celebrate the achievement of an alliance with the Starks. Upon returning from the mission, Jacaerys is informed that his brother was murdered by Aemond. This results in a very sad and, at the same time, very beautiful scene between the young man and his mother, Rhaenyra, who grieve together.

Additionally, she finds Lucerys's clothes and a dragon's wing on the beach at Dragonstone. This first moment shows his most fragile and powerless side. Therefore, Daemon acts impulsively, highlighting the first episode of this second season. 

Alyn of Hull and her brother Addam are introduced into the plot

We are introduced to one of the new characters from the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon): Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), who works under the command of Corlys Velaryon and has a brother named Addam. Both were adapted from the book Fire & Blood.

In the stories in the book, there are some questions about his true ancestry. The mother swears up and down that her children are bastards of Laenor Velaryon – which is strange, since it was even mentioned above that he is homosexual. Others claim that they are bastard fruits of Corlys.

main highlights

Therefore, following Game of Thrones, this new season begins with shocking scenes that will impact both those who are not accustomed to the stories of Westeros and the fans themselves. This is a typical feature of books and series, it would be strange if it wasn't present at any point – even though it causes great emotional impacts. 

A positive point is that unlike the first season, which spilled a lot of information and invested in temporal advancement, making it difficult to assimilate some points, the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) begins by stepping on the brakes and presenting the plot more calmly.

So if the first season introduced us to family dynamics, betrayals, conspiracies and possible schemes, the second year brings the certainty of the war to come, full of revenge and blood in the eyes, even though Rhaenyra and Alicent insist on the good neighbor policy and want to avoid a totally destructive war as much as possible. Between discussions, oppositions and emotional ties from the past, we can say that the two are the most human characters in the series. 

We follow Alicent trying to balance her visionary side, which was always driven by her father, with her concern about what could happen to her children. Olivia Cooke increasingly proves herself ideal for the role and plays with excellence a widowed queen with great potential for comebacks. Emma D'Arcy is not far away. Along with Cooke, even though she started the season with little dialogue, she starred in some of the most moving scenes through the eyes of a grieving mother overcome with fury and sadness. 

As mentioned, even though they are rivals with many scores to settle, Alicent and Rhaenyra think beyond themselves. Which is not the case with the men in the series. Daemon wants blood and cannot accept his niece-wife's passivity. Criston simply can't get over what happened to Rhaenyra and wants, whatever the cost, an opportunity for revenge. And in the midst of all this, dragons as weapons. But at a given moment there is a very fine line between acting for ideals and killing just for desire and the feeling of power. This is the path we will follow, step by step, until war breaks out once and for all. 

Easter eggs

The first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) is full of easter-eggs linked to the story of Game of Thrones, as well as very important details that could unfold in the following episodes, including minor characters. 

Nostalgia

Both the Game of Thrones soundtrack and the The Dragon House (House of the Dragon) are signed by Ramin Djawadi, so some songs may sound familiar, including the theme. But the second season already premieres with a song typical of House Stark, “Goodbye, Brother”, after the credits and when reintroducing Winterfell. 

Additionally, the new opening credits sequence for The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) It's the tapestry of Targaryen history.

Queen Alysanne's dragons don't go beyond the Wall, but why do Daenerys's do?

While visiting the Wall, Cregan tells the story of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne and the fact that their dragons refused to fly beyond that limit. All of this occurred years before the chronology of House of the Dragon and is based on the book. In it, it is noted that only Queen Alysanne went to the Wall and that she tried to convince her dragon Silverwing/Silverwing several times to cross the limits. In the series, Jaehaerys' presentation in the story would indicate that his dragon, Vermithor / Bronze Wrath, also refused. 

But the question is: why? In the main story of Game of Thrones, for the seventh season, Daenerys' dragons do not hesitate at any time when flying over the Wall, despite the knowledge of the White Walkers. Hopefully we can find out soon.

Cregan Stark explains why the Wall was built and references the White Walkers

And speaking of White Walkers, Cregan continues to be didactic and explains to Jacaerys why the Wall was built thousands of years ago. He is not explicit about the creatures and there are still no signs of them in the spin off, but his explanation doesn't need to be long for fans to quickly understand what it's about. In any case, it is an important point as it is linked to the great prophecy. 

The Lannisters are marching to the Golden Tooth

The seat of House Lefford in Goldentooth was mentioned in the first season of Game of Thrones and there are some important points here too. This place is close to the border between the Western Lands and the Riverlands, and is consequently a primordial fortress.

Everything indicates from the trailers shown this season that we will see the Lannisters in the Golden Tooth and quite possibly the Battle of the Red Fork, one of the most important conflicts in the history of the Lannister house. 

Alerie Florent is Alicent Hightower's mother

When lighting her candles and performing her rituals, Alicent mentions three people. Viserys, Lucerys and Alerie Florent, her mother who had not yet been mentioned, not even in the book Fire & Blood.  

The characteristics of House Florent in its emblem are limited to the figure of a fox and shades of blue and white. In the first episodes of the previous season, Alicent wore blue dresses. As she grows up and politics changes, she takes on green, the Hightower color, on her father's side. 

Conclusion

From the first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) It is possible to notice some improvements compared to the first season. The characterization of the characters (costumes in general), the scenography and the effects seem to be better worked now, paying off all the investment in the series and being as big as it is. 

The acting continues to be very good and the fact that the script begins to focus more on the main characters' relationships than on various subplots of minor characters is an immense gain. Of course, there are still distractions in small plots, but I feel that for now they are smaller than those in the first season. 

Furthermore, the story explores the concept of not having a right or wrong side, making it even more fun for fans to choose their favorite narratives and defend their chosen side. Rhaenyra is a strong figure, but she has her doubts. Alicent has blood in her eyes, but sometimes she gives in to guilt. As much as Aemond has become a detestable person, at the end of the day his actions show that deep down he is still that defenseless child who lost an eye. 

There are many dramatic layers and character enrichment. Which is good for those who like this side more. In general, the first episode of the second season of The House of the Dragon (House of the Dragon) brings a rollercoaster of nostalgic references to Game of Thrones, emotions and a taste of wanting more for the next episodes to come. For those who are more fans of action, this first moment may not be so attractive, but it is clear that this season is one of those cases where everything will definitely escalate and more scenes between dragons are to come. 

Watch the trailer

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Sources: Vulture, Team e Screen Rant

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim