MOVIE NEWS – Season 2 of House of the Dragon relives the bloody civil war, the Dance of the Dragons, with shocking moments. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere!

House of the Dragon is back on HBO and Max, and it caused a massive shock in its first episode. It occurs shortly after the heartbreaking finale of Season 1, which brought House Targaryen and House Hightower to the brink of war. Season 2 spurs the presentation of the bloody civil war, Dance of the Dragons, as even the most peaceful characters are slowly consumed by revenge.

The season 2 premiere brought some shocking events. A boy was beheaded, Rhaenyra accepted a path of revenge, and a lustful relationship no one expected. Still, people were strangely more shocked by an abused dog than the death of an unfortunate boy whose own mother could hear the sound of the gun that killed him.

Still, the solid season premiere confirms that the series, which has already been renewed for a third season, is back in full force.

The cast of House of the Dragon season two recently sat down with Screen Rant to discuss the biggest moment of the show’s long-awaited return. They admitted that they were just as shocked by certain scenes when reading the script as the viewers are now.

Most viewers were shocked by the “Blood and Cheese” scene, which was already shocking in the book. The assassin duo George R.R. Martin features in the book, and Season 2 brought them to the big screen after Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) hired them to kill Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) as revenge. Showrunner Ryan Condal talked about whether it was a lot of pressure to bring such a famous story to the screen in Season 2. Condal said:

“Sure. In many ways, anticipation is great, but also you can never deliver exactly on people’s expectations. Especially when there’s so many people who read these books, and then have this particular sort of interpretation or vision of what the thing is. So you just try to make a good version that works for an audience that has read the book and hasn’t read the book.”

Aemond Targaryen honours Daemon’s assassination attempt in House of the Dragon Season 2

Only in Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon can a family member hire assassins to kill another family member to earn the respect of the chosen target. But this is the case with Aemond Targaryen, the Kinslayer, following the Blood and Cheese storyline.

Ewan Mitchell believes that there are many parallels between Aemond and Daemon that were first woven in the first season, and Mitchell is looking forward to the show exploring them in the second season.

Mitchell said: “I think he thinks about what a young Daemon Targaryen would want, and that’s what he would want as well. There’s this idea, Daemon was this close to getting Aemond. He set up Blood and Cheese into the Red Keep to find Aemond. It’s like your biggest hero, but he can’t or he’s too afraid to do it himself. And there’s something romantic in it, because he’s Daemon’s biggest stan. [Laughs] He really wants to best him.”

During the conversation, Mitchell also revealed how he prepared to play the one-eyed, sword-wielding “Kinslayer.” The actor said that listening to music helped a lot, especially heavy metal, which he thinks Aemond would also listen to if he were here today. The actor said:

“I mean, it’s also my choice of music as well, but I think it’s super provocative and some of it can certainly be really angry. It can kind of stir the fire in the belly for me as an actor. And Aemond, he kind of looks rock and roll, as well.”

Source: Screen Rant, Variety