‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2: The Only 5 Things You Need to Remember Before Watching

Dragon House Season 2 premieres this week, almost two years after season 1 came to its gruesome and somewhat confusing conclusion. The HBO hit is, of course, famous for the depth of its world-building, the weirdness of its story, and its many, many incestuous romances. You almost have to be a student of George RR Martin’s work to keep up with all the Easter eggs, plot twists, and characters with similar-sounding names. All of which is to say that it’s fine if you need a Dragon House Season 1 recap before season 2 drops on Sunday, June 16.

A lot of crazy things happened in Dragon House Season 1. There was a strange bad boy named “Crabfeeder” and a dragon named Seasmoke. Larys “Clubfoot” Strong (Matthew Needham) burned her own father and his brother to the ground to gain the “favor” of Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke). A little boy had his eye gouged out and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) killed his first wife and basically only one person cared.

The truth is that you don’t need to remember all of those details if you want to return to the world of Westeros when Dragon House Season 2 comes out on Sunday. There are some basic and important details you’ll definitely want to remember, but other than that, you’re fine!

I don’t have time to look again. Dragon House Season 1? Don’t you remember who killed who and why Team Green and Team Black are fighting? Here is yours Dragon House Season 1 Summary:

1. Former BBFs Alicent and Rhaenyra hate each other because of patriarchy

   

   Sure, you remember that when Dragon House Season 1 began, young Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) were best friends, but why did they suddenly hate each other after the time jump that replaced the OG actresses with Emma D’ Arcy and Olivia Cooke? Honestly, it’s all her parents’ fault.

   Alicent’s father, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), is the greatest political power player in this era of game of Thrones. When Viserys’ beloved wife Aemma (Sian Brooke) dies in forced childbirth, leaving no male heir to the Iron Throne. except Otto, Viserys’ erratic brother Daemon, makes two wild moves. First, he convinces Viserys to break with tradition and name his daughter, Rhaenyra, his heir. He then grooms Alicent to become Viserys’ new queen.

   If being a teenager isn’t hard enough, Rhaenyra has to deal with the fact that her best friend is now her stepmother. Alicent then gives birth to a boy, named Aegon after the most powerful and famous king in the Targaryen family tree. Otto literally tells Alicent that she cries that she has to plan to put Aegon on the Iron Throne or hope that Rhaenyra will kill him and her younger siblings when she becomes queen. To make matters worse, Rhaenyra also lies to Alicent about losing her virginity! (If you’ve been a teenager, that’s a enormous blow.)

   Long story short: Rhaenyra thinks she deserves the Iron Throne because her dad said so, but Alicent thinks her children will die if they don’t take the Iron Throne because her dad said so.

2. Ser Criston Cole made Rhaenyra stop her heart and Alicent pounced on him.

   

   The exact moment Alicent completely turns against Rhaenyra Dragon House Season 1 is when she finds out that the maiden princess lied about losing her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Ser Criston Cole is not a highborn lord, but a wandering knight who dazzled the kingdom when he defeated Daemon in a tournament. Rhaenyra then makes the handsome knight part of the Royal Guard, who are the celibate bodyguards of royalty. Emphasis on celibate. They are NOT supposed to have sex.

   Alicent sees Rhaenyra’s actions (seducing Cole, lying about it, and breaking his heart) as evidence of a deceitful nature and decides to go full speed ahead with Otto’s plans, adopting Hightower’s war color “Green.” (Thus, the Green Team was born against the Black Team).

   Anyway, Cole is so distraught over what he’s done that he tries to commit suicide, but Alicent stops him. After that, he is Alicent’s biggest fan. And yes, there was some sexual tension between them in season 1, although they were both too self-righteous to act on it.

   Long story short: Rhaenyra broke Ser Criston Cole’s heart and Alicent picked up the pieces, causing the dangerous Dornishman to become obsessed with Queen Hightower.

3. Aemond, Alicent’s one-eyed son, killed Luke, Rhaenyra’s two-eyed youngest son.

   

   Any hope Rhaenyra or Alicent might have had of resolving the line of succession without bloodshed was shattered in the Dragon House Season 1 finale. That’s because Alicent’s son Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) accidentally killed Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys, aka Luke (Elliot Grihault).

   As children, Rhaenyra and Alicent’s children sensed their mothers’ animosity and took it to the proverbial playground. Rhaenyra’s children would mock Aemond for not having a dragon, while rumors at court said that Rhaenyra’s children were bastards or “strong ones”.

   When little Aemond claims Vhagar, the largest dragon in the kingdom, a fight breaks out, a knife is pulled, Luke defends his brother by attacking Aemond, accidentally gouging out his eye. That’s where the patch comes into play.

   After Rhaenyra learns that Aegon is on the Iron Throne, she sends her two eldest sons and her little dragons to negotiate with various lords. Luke goes to House Baratheon, but Aemond is already there with the huge Vhagar. After tense words in the castle, Luke runs off and Aemond follows to harass him. However, Aemond loses control of Vhagar, who kills Luke and his dragon. He has shed blood.

   Long story short: The guy with the eyepatch killed Rhaenyra’s precious child, which means war.

4. Mysaria is a person who exists and has a strange accent (and access to a network of spies)

   

   You probably completely forgot this, but Sonoya Mizuno played a master prostitute turned spy named Mysaria, nicknamed the White Worm in Dragon House Season 1. She was originally Daemon’s girlfriend, but she left him because she didn’t like being a pawn in his high-stakes political games.

   Later Dragon House In season 1, we learn that Mysaria now makes money by providing Otto Hightower with information about what is happening in the castle and throughout the city of King’s Landing. She helps the Green Team find Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) so they can crown him and claim the Iron Throne. (Interestingly, Aegon didn’t want to rule because he knew he wasn’t worthy and didn’t want to start a war with Rhaenyra!)

   In exchange for this valuable information, Otto Hightower orders Mysaria killed. Her house is burned down, but we never see a body. So, you know, she’s probably alive! (Spoiler: she’s back Dragon House Season 2.)

   Long story short: Mysaria finally has some things to do Dragon House Season 2, so remember she exists.

5. “The Song of Ice and Fire” is a prophecy about ‘Game of Thrones’ and the REAL reason there is war

   

   In the first episode of Dragon House, Viserys reveals a family secret to Rhaenyra. It’s a prophecy called “The Song of Ice and Fire.” Apparently, Aegon the Conqueror only took over the Seven Kingdoms because he had a vision of a great threat coming from the north that would need a united Westeros and the Targaryen dragons to defeat. The prophecy depends on the phrase “The Promised Prince.”

   If this sounds familiar game of Thrones heads, that’s because Aegon’s prophecy is about Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and the White Walkers. A song of ice and fire is also the official name of the George RR Martin series of game of Thrones books.

   Anyway, Rhaenyra is the only person who knows about this. So when Alicent hears a dying Viserys mutter “Aegon” and “The Prince That Was Promised,” her clueless mind thinks that Viserys’ dying wish is to put Aegon on the Iron Throne. It’s not. She murmurs it because she believes Alicent is Rhaenyra, his true chosen heir.

   Alicent takes this as a green light to stage a coup and start a civil war. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, takes the prophecy as an order to keep Westeros united at all costs.

   Long story short: Alicent has no idea what “Aegon” or “The Prince That Was Promised” means, but Rhaenyra does. And so do we.

   And that is! Okay, there are other things you might need to know, but these are the big plot points you’ll need to remember if you’re going to be able to follow them. Dragon House Season 2 without wasting ten hours of your life re-watching Season 1. (But would that really be a waste or a lot of fun?)

   Dragon House Season 2 premieres Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max

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