Are we heading back to Westeros sooner than we all thought? Happily, it seems so!
We initially got an update on the release of "House of the Dragon" season 2 back in January from series star Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen in the hit HBO series. The actor had shared on BBC's "The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show" podcast that the Emmy-winning fantasy series would be coming back for its second season this summer, specifically in August 2024.
However, it seems that "HOTD" will be catching up with Daemon and the rest of the Targaryen dynasty several months sooner than that. During an interview at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom conference on Monday, March 4, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming and gaming chief J.B. Perrette revealed that the show would actually be returning in June 2024, per Variety.
Though Perrette didn't reveal a specific premiere date for the show's second season, the updated launch date does correspond with the "early summer 2024" release date mentioned by HBO boss Casey Bloys at a press event this past November.
The second season of the "Game of Thrones" prequel series — set nearly 200 years before the events of the flagship show and centering on the succession war within House Targaryen during the height of its power — was greenlit by the network shortly after the season 1 premiere, which aired on August 21, 2022.
It will delve even further into the Dance of the Dragons succession war between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) over their father Viserys I's throne. However, there will be also differences from the previous season: three "House of the Dragon" actors won’t be back for season 2 and there might be more active changes to Rhaenyra's storyline this time around.
In the year-plus since season 1 ended (the finale, "The Black Queen," aired on October 23, 2022), "House of the Dragon" viewers got a sneak peek at the upcoming sophomore season in November 2023. The minute-long teaser trailer shows that the conflict between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Aegon II's mother, Rhaenyra's old friend Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), rages on.
“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin," Rhaenyra says in the clip. “And no war so bloody as a war between dragons,” replies her aunt Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best. (Of course, there are plenty of fire-breathing dragons in the teaser.)
Tom's Guide will keep you posted when the exact "House of the Dragon" season 2 premiere date is officially announced but TV fans will no doubt be excited that the hit fantasy series is coming back two months earlier than anticipated. In the meantime, you can catch up with all of the news about the various "Game of Thrones" spinoff series that are in the works, including the Dunk and Egg prequel and the Aegon the Conqueror series. You can also revisit the show's first season with a Max subscription before those new season two episodes drop.
