The first season of the series aired on HBO from August to October 2022. The second season is expected to focus on the Targaryen Civil War – a massive confrontation between the two sides of the family, the “Green” and the “Black » – which will redefine the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for decades to come, according to lore.
How did we get here? With a lot of deaths. War, dragons, sword fights, and an overly dramatic ceremony or two have killed many characters along the way. Honestly, going through them is probably the easiest way to get refreshed on this show.
The first deaths: criminals and knights
“House of the Dragon” got off to a bloody start when Daemon (Matt Smith), leader of the City Watch and potential heir to the Iron Throne, led his gold-cloaked soldiers through the city streets to execute all criminals who had been killed. going on a rampage under the watch of King Viserys (Paddy Considine). Many were decapitated in the streets (one appeared to lose his butt during the massacre). It was a show of strength for Daemon, who was looking to show off his strength as a potential heir.
In the first episode, Queen Aemma, the wife of King Viserys, died in childbirth after the king chose to save their baby over his wife. The child, named Baelon, died shortly after birth.
When his new son died, Viserys named his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the throne and sent Daemon away from King’s Landing. The king then married Lady Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke and Emily Carey), the daughter of his lawyer Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King.
Lord Corlys’ men (eaten by crabs)
The second episode of “The House of the Dragon” opened with a photo of Corlys’ men being torn apart and eaten by… crabs. This was done by Prince Craghas Drahar, known as the “Crab Eater”, who fed his victims to… oh, you understand.
Drahar united three of the “Free Cities” (located across the Narrow Sea from Westeros) into an alliance called the Triarchy, a scourge for King Viserys during his reign.
The man crushed by a dragon (after being eaten by crabs)
Oh, that poor boy. One soldier, who had been defeated by Drahar, had his hands nailed to a wooden pike as he shouted at the crab eater. As a crab began to tear off the man’s body, a dragon came down from the sky and crushed him. Yeah.
This guy, this guy and this guy (burned by dragon fire)
A number of soldiers fighting Drahar were burned alive by Daemon, who came riding a dragon to confront the Crab Eater. These men were completely set on fire by dragon fire.
As Daemon fought Drahar’s army in the Stepstones, a messenger arrived from King Viserys, promising troops to aid Daemon’s cause. Daemon took his helmet and beat the messenger until he bled. It is not known whether the messenger died during the assault. But come on.
The guards, the army and the people of the Crab Feeder
Daemon took a stand against Drahar’s forces by appearing to sacrifice himself and surrender. But instead of turning around, he used a hidden knife to kill Drahar’s guards and soldiers, cutting them into pieces while dodging the descending arrows.
Just when it looked like Drahar’s soldiers were going to slaughter Daemon, dragons appeared from the sky and burned much of the army alive.
Drahar retreated to his cave in the midst of the assault. Daemon followed him into the cave and then returned to the battlefield with the warlord’s upper body and head, having cut him in two. Messy!
Jerrel Bracken (probably)
A young man seeking Rhaenyra’s hand in marriage, named Jerrel, found himself on the wrong side of a duel. He mocked the young boy Willem Blackwood, who posed as a suitor for Rhaenyra’s hand (despite his young age). Willem and Jerrel then engaged in a sword fight, which Willem won by stabbing Jerrel in the stomach. Although we didn’t see him die, we did see him coughing up blood. Point taken.
Daemon made a play for his niece Rhaenyra’s hand by, uh, spend time with her in a brothel, then tell the king (i.e. his brother and father) about it. When Daemon was later exiled to the Vale, he was welcomed by his lawful wife, Lady Rhea. She insulted him on his return, after which he knocked her off her horse and appeared ready to kill her with a stone. The reason ? To inherit his fortune and potentially take a new wife.
However, we didn’t actually see Lady Rhea die. Usually you can’t count on someone dying on TV until you see a body. I’m just saying.
It took a while, but Rhaenyra was eventually betrothed to Laenor Velaryon, despite a brief affair with her uncle and a separate affair with the knight Criston Cole. But Laenor and Rhaenyra agreed to marry so that they could maintain their secret romances (Rhaenyra with Criston, Laenor with her partner, Joffrey).
During a ceremony to celebrate the upcoming wedding, Cole went crazy in Lonmouth, punching his face relentlessly on the ceremony dance floor. Criston then became the protector of Lady Alicent, the wife of King Viserys.
Lady Laena, Laenor’s younger sister, had married Daemon some time after her brother’s marriage. They moved to Pentos and had twin daughters, Baela and Rhaena. They were due to have a third child, but Laena had complications during childbirth. Instead of suffering the same fate as Queen Aemma, Laena went outside and ordered a dragon to burn her alive.
To help his close confidante, Queen Alicent, Larys Strong set fire to Harrenhal, one of the largest castles in Westeros. The fire killed his brother Harwin and his father, Lyonel. Larys had heard Alicent’s concerns about Rhaenyra’s affair with Harwin and her worry that Lyonel had become the Hand of the King at the expense of her own father, Otto Hightower. Lyonel’s death allows Otto to resume his position.
Daemon returned to King’s Landing after his wife’s death and reunited with Rhaenyra, where the two engaged in further activities. actions. They then agreed to marry, but Rhaenyra’s husband Laenor had to die first so they could legally marry as part of a political alliance. So Daemon asked a knight named Ser Qarl to kill someone quickly with witnesses. Daemon ran up a flight of stairs and snapped a man’s neck. We’ll talk about it again in the next death!
Daemon’s request brought Qarl to Laenor’s father’s chambers, where he challenged Laenor to a sword duel. When Laenor’s family and security arrived at the room, they spotted a burnt body on the floor and immediately mourned their deceased son. It was later revealed that Laenor had escaped in a boat with Qarl, fleeing the kingdom alive and faking her death to allow Rhaenyra to marry Daemon.
As King Viserys’ health deteriorates, many begin to wonder who will take the throne. Vaemond, brother of Corlys, argued for the throne given that his missing brother was married to Rhaenys (who had been denied the throne on Viserys decades before, giving her the nickname “the queen who never summer “).
But when Vaemond realized that the king was not going to disinherit his grandchildren and appoint a new heir, he became angry and insulted Rhaenyra’s sons. Daemon chopped off Vaemond’s head in response. Horrible.
The death of King Viserys
This is one of the key moments of “House of the Dragon” and it fuels a number of significant deaths in the series. After spending the entire season sick with leprosy, the king finally died in his bed, freeing the throne.
On his deathbed, Viserys explained in the fog that the prophecies of the “Promised Prince” and the “Song of Ice and Fire” (which would later play out in the “Game of Thrones” story) to his wife Alicent , suggesting that she needed to be the one to ensure that the prophecies come true (and that a Targaryen sits on the Iron Throne when the dreaded winter arrives). She interpreted this to mean that her son, Aegon, should bear the crown over Rhaenyra and her children, whose lineage had long been disputed by Alicent due to their brown hair and un-Targaryen features.
When Viserys died, Alicent shared the conversation with his father, Otto. Much to his surprise, Otto and Tyland Lannister had already begun planning a scenario in which Aegon would take the Iron Throne against Rhaenyra, who had long been promised the crown. To solidify her son’s ascension, Alicent offered peaceful terms for Rhaenyra to bend the knee, despite her council’s advice to kill Rhaenyra and Daemon to solidify her son’s claim.
Lyman Beesbury, as a puzzle
Report another death. When Lyman Beesbury, a member of the Silent Council involved in the succession discussions, protested the plan to place Aegon on the throne, he was killed when his head was smashed against a plate.
(It is unknown whether Harrold Westerling, lord commander of the crown’s army who also refrained from supporting Aegon, dies after being taken to “king’s justice”, also known as execution, but the writing is on the wall.)
Guys trampled by dragons
When Aegon was finally crowned king, more deaths followed. Rhaenys rode her dragon into the ceremony to show what her dragons could do and stomped on some spectators. A random citizen was tripped by the dragon and another man was crushed. It is not known exactly how many people died in the attack, but we believe a few did not survive.
After learning of her father’s death, Rhaenyra went into stress-induced labor. The baby, named Visenya, was stillborn.
All the troubles of the first season led to the devastating death of Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys.
Lucerys, known as Luke, traveled to Storm’s End to deliver a message to her mother, who was seeking an alliance with their leaders. But he was chased away by his evil uncle Aemond and his dragon.
After barely surviving a thunderstorm, Luke emerged into daylight atop his dragon – only for Aemond’s dragon to break through the storm clouds and engulf Luke and his dragon, putting a strain on bloody mark on the first season of the series.