Late last week, we got hints that HBO was preparing to debut a new trailer for House of the Dragon season 2 on Thursday, March 20, mostly likely during their presentation at the Series Mania TV festival in France. Well, today, HBO dropped a number of new posters for the show, and tweeted out the ominous words, "Tomorrow. All Must Choose." I think we can safely guess that a trailer is coming tomorrow. Called it.
As for the posters, they are rich, baroque and drenched in drama, a perfect fit for this series about dragon-riding royals killing each other for the chance to sit on the Iron Throne. Check them out below:
First we have Rhaenyra Targaryen, played by Emma D'Arcy. If House of the Dragon, has a main character, it's her. In the first season, we watched her grow from a young woman into the matriarch of her own family. She's been promised the Iron Throne since a young age, but now has to fight for it against her half-brother Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), who also gets a poster:
That's Aegon lounging on the Iron Throne alongside the Lord Commander of his Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel). It's interesting that King Aegon has to share a poster while his one-eyed, dangerous brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) gets one all to himself:
Aemond came close to becoming the breakout character of House of the Dragon season 1, so I can't complain too much about him hogging the spotlight. Mercurial, vengeful and deadly, Aemond turned the heat up on this budding inter-family war when he killed Rhaenyra's son Lucerys Velaryon at the end of the first season. Before that, Rhaenyra was still trying to keep a lid on things, hoping the conflict with her half-brother wouldn't turn into all-out war. But after Aemond killed her son, there's no going back.
Rhaenyra's former best friend Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is the mother of both Aegon and Aemond (and of Helaena Targaryen, who doesn't get a poster). She and Rhaenyra came close to reconciling near the end of season 1, but Aemond's actions made that impossible. Now that war is properly afoot, they're on opposite sides.
Alicent, Aegon, Aemond and Criston are all part of a team dubbed "the greens," which means those loyal to King Aegon II Targaryen. People loyal to Rhaenyra are called "the blacks," and first among them is her husband Daemon Targaryen, played by Matt Smith. Like Aemond, he's unpredictable and violent, but also older and wiser. Count on him mixing it up in season 2.
Finally, this poster spotlights the husband-wife team of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who both support Rhaenyra. She'll need all the help she can get.
— Winter is Coming (@WiCnet) March 20, 2024
These posters have the same high drama style as the two we got late last year, which show Rhaenyra and Alicent wreathed in flame and despair:
We don't yet have a premiere date for House of the Dragon season 2, but by this time tomorrow, that may well change.
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