The second season of House of the Dragon wrapped up last year. The third season is filming as we speak, but we still have a while to wait. To while away the hours, why not check out some concept art for the second season recently posted by art director Roger Hom on his website?
According to Hom, he was asked to create these images as part of the marketing campaign for House of the Dragon, which was very extensive. Everything he produced is very much in keeping with the look of the show: dense, dark and heavy. Hom offered his thoughts on the image above: "Rhaenyra is deep in thought, perhaps contemplating her father Visery’s words, 'The control of dragons is an illusion..it is a power man should never have trifled with… one that brought about Valyria's doom. If we don't mind our own histories, it will do the same to us. Targaryen must understand this to be King… or Queen.'"
Hom created images for a lot of the different characters. They're all worth taking a closer look at. In the upper left hand corner of the collage above, we see Daemon Targaryen at the crumbling castle of Harrenhal, where he spend a lot of time in season 2. "Daemon kneels in a jagged pool of light, presenting the castle he has captured. Rhaenyra’s banner hung above the ruined structures, unfurls into the space," Hom writes. "We see the the 'Blacks' banner framed by another jagged pool of light streaming through the ruined structures beyond, suggesting the cursed and dangerous history of Harrenhal.
Below Daemon, we see King Aegon II Targaryen in the Iron Throne room. That might be my favorite of these images, because Aegon is just that great a character. "Aegon appears to be the legitimate king, as framed by god rays streaming through the windows," Hom explains. "But, in the shadow, is the glittering crown of Aegon the conqueror that he seems to reluctantly hold, perhaps unworthy of his head?"
Remember that these are concept sketches meant for the marketing team, not representations of scenes we actually got. Rhaenyra and Alicent never met in the Iron Throne room like they're doing in the image in the upper left-hand corner, and they certainly didn't do it with a dragon's head hovering behind them. But such is the magic of concept art.
"This space is more surreal than the others, a nightmarish premonition in its conception," Hom wrote of that image. "In the foreground is the silhouette of the broken swords of the throne, lit by a lurid light of melted candles or fire. It recalls the scenes of Alicent and Rhaenyra praying at the Sept, Viserys revealing to Rhaenyra her role at the Skull of Balerion, the Painted table at Dragonstone, the Silent Sisters' funeral preparation table for Rhaenyra's stillborn child. Ultimately, it forebodes a dark future, a funeral pyre for both of them? Unaware by the two, a dragon, barely visible in the thick haze emerges ominously. Massive banners frame the scene."
If you want a closer look at all this, head to Hom's website. I'm not sure if Hom is working on the third season of House of the Dragon, but he certainly seems to have enough talent and passion to be worth hiring. New episodes will likely start airing sometime next year on HBO and HBO Max.
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