WAR is coming

How the sprawling Game of Thrones spin-off story has upped the stakes for Series 2...

- SEAN MARLAND

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

MONDAY, 9PM, SKY ATLANTIC

FANTASY DRAMA

Brace yourselves for an epic tale of fire and blood as the Targaryen civil war breaks out in the second season of Sky Atlantic’s fantasy saga House of the Dragon.

Set 200 years before the events featured in award-winning drama Game of Thrones, the spin-off adventure’s new eight-part run continues the story of how the ruling family of Westeros began to fall from power.

The opening episode finds Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) on the island of Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of the House of Targaryen. The enigmatic ruler is in mourning following the death of her second-born son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault), who was killed during a vicious dragon duel at the hands of Rhaenyra’s younger half-brother, Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), at the end of Series 1.

The tragic loss now looks set to ignite the flames of war between the two sides of the family dynasty. Rhaenyra had been named heiress to the Iron Throne by her father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine). But his second wife, Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), was determined that her children should inherit his crown.

When Alicent had her eldest son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) crowned King, she knew her Green side would face a fight for power, but Lucerys’ demise has left Rhaenyra and the Black faction hungry for vengeance.

Here, showrunner Ryan J. Condal reveals why it’s set to have us on the edge of our seats…