House of the Dragon: Season 2, Episode 1 Recap

The highly anticipated second season of House of the Dragon is finally here. 7.8 million viewers tuned in to the premiere and it did not disappoint. The first episode sets the scene for what’s to come between the Greens and the blacks–betrayal, heartbreak, and war. 

Although there weren’t any dragons fighting in the first episode, it was still exciting. Viewers get to see the inner workings of the Green Council and dive deeper into the characters they’ve come to know and love. Episode one keeps viewers on the edge of their seats and promises an incredible and moving season. All must choose. Whose side are you on? Let’s take a deeper dive into the first House of the Dragon season two episode!

House of the Dragon: The Blacks 

A raven soaring through the air is the first visual of season two of House of the Dragon. Audiences follow the bird to the North, where Prince Jacaerys is meeting with Cregan Stark on the Wall. Stark reaffirms the North’s loyalty to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and guarantees him an army of 2,000 “graybeards” for the cause. Before the scene ends, a message about Prince Lucerys’s death is delivered.  

On Dragonstone, an exhausted Princess Rhaenys arrives from patrolling the skies on her dragon, Meleys. Daemon commands her to fly to King’s Landing with him to kill Vhagar and Aemond. They discuss Rhaenyra’s days-long absence and argue how her grief is distracting her from the impending war. 

Rhaenys urges her cousin to be patient with his wife before viewers alternate to Corlys Velaryon’s point of view. He’s walking with a cane as he appraises the latest ship back from the Stepstones, discussing his desire to ready it for war with a sailor named Alyn of Hull. It is revealed that he pulled Corlys from the water during the season one war in the Stepstones. 

The Greens

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In King’s Landing, King Aegon is searching for his son Jaehaerys to take him to the Green’s small council. Queen Halaena tells him where to find him before uttering one of her cryptic fortunes: “I am afraid…of the rats.” Aegon laughs it off. 

The first intimate scene opens with a surprise–Dowager Queen Alicent and Ser Criston Cole. As they prepare for the small council, Alicent warns him that they can never be together like that again.  The Green Council discuss their plans to muster armies and get more houses to pledge their allegiance. 

Afterwards, Aegon hears petitions. A farmer steps forward to ask for his sheep back that were confiscated by the crown for their dragons to eat. Aegon generously agrees to return them before his Hand and Grandfather Otto forces him to change his mind. His grandfather’s puppet master behavior and Aegon’s cluelessness become clearer. 

“They killed the boy.” 

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra watches a beach from afar and sees people gathering around a dragon’s wing caught in a net. She investigates and finds her son’s cloak tangled in it. Devastated, she finally returns to Dragonstone and says only one sentence to her small council: I want Aemond Targaryen. 

Mysaria is found stowing away in a Velaryon ship. She’s brought to Dragonstone with Daemon’s promise of freedom in exchange for any information on the Greens. Daemon sets out in what the internet has dubbed his “crime hoodie” to the city watch. There, he finds a rat catcher named Cheese who he pays to kill Aemond. 

He recruits another catcher named Blood and they infiltrate the Red Keep. They can’t locate Aemond anywhere and stumble on Helaena and her sleeping children. They threaten her and force her to tell them which of her twins is the boy. Crying, she points him out and they murder Jaehaerys while she flees with her daughter. There isn’t a single guard around–until she reaches her mother’s room where she and Ser Criston are in bed. Helaena drops to the floor and speaks the chilling last words of this episode of House of the Dragon–”They killed the boy.” 

New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO at 9 pm. Check it out if you haven’t already!

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