Before the resumption of hostilities in the long-awaited season 2, we recap for you what happened in the first season of House of the Dragon.
Released in 2022, House of the Dragonby George RR Martin and Ryan Condal, is a prequel to Game Of Thrones which takes place more than 170 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen and recounts the events leading up to the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that wiped out almost all the Dragons and began the fall of House Targaryen.
Before hostilities resume in season 2, we recap (as best we could) the key events of the first season and everything you need to have in mind before launching the sequel.
Family story(s)
The old king Jaehaerys Targaryen chooses as his successor his eldest grandson, Prince Viserys Taragaryen, to the detriment of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, his direct heir, which she finds difficult to digest. Viserys ascends the Iron Throne alongside his wife, Queen Aemma, who gave birth to only one daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, whom the king cherishes greatly. She is very close to Lady Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King.
Queen Aemma died in childbirth after a fatal cesarean section for her and her infant, who died shortly after her mother. Upon learning of the death of his nephew, the king’s younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryenhas the brilliant idea of making fun of this “ heir for a day“, which led to his banishment. It is therefore Rhaenyra who is officially designated as the heir to the crown.
The lords of Westeros pledge allegiance to Rhaenyra, recognizing her as their future queen. But the King’s Council still urges him to remarry, to perpetuate the lineage and hope to have a man on the throne in Rhaenyra’s place. It struggles to assert itself and is left out of the affairs of the kingdom, its only mission being to choose the new knight who will join the Royal Guard. She sets her sights on Sir Criston Cole.
Corlys Velaryon, the master of ships, and his wife Princess Rhaenys, make an offer to the king: the hand of their twelve-year-old daughter, Laena, in hopes of moving closer to the throne that was rightfully theirs. But at this point, Otto is already one step ahead, having sent his daughter Alicent to “comfort” the king in the aftermath of the queen’s death. It is therefore her that Viserys chooses as his new wife, which does not please Corlys and Rhaenys at all, and especially Rhaenyra, who has not don’t want her best friend to become her mother-in-law. From there, the two friends will gradually become enemies.
The greens of rage
Three years after their marriage, Viserys and Alicent had a son, Aegon (named after Aegon, the Conqueror), while another child is already on the way. The king insists that his daughter marry, which does not improve their increasingly conflictual relationship. One of the suitors is Laenor Velaryon, the son of Corlys, who would make up for the blow after the king’s refusal to marry Laena.
For his part, Prince Daemon, who has since mended things with his brother, has become much closer to his niece. A little too much even, since they almost had sex in a brothel in King’s Landing. Out of frustration, the princess sleeps with Sir Criston Colebut rumor has it that Rhaenyra is having an incestuous affair with her uncle and is pregnant.
Suspecting him of having designs on the throne, Viserys once again exiles his brother (who had asked for Rhaenyra’s hand), in addition to dismissing Otto who was clearly trying to manipulate him. To spread rumors, the Crown Princess, however, is forced to marry Laenor Velaryon, who is secretly homosexual. She therefore suggests that they fulfill their marital duties in order to ensure their descendants, while being free to frolic here and there.
Sir Criston Cole therefore suggests to Rhaenyra that she renounce the throne and run away with him, but he gets caught and admits to Alicent that he is the princess’s lover. Otto continues to manipulate Alicent, telling her that her children will be in danger if Rhaenyra becomes Queen. From there, Alicent attempts to impose House Hightower at court by conspicuously displaying its color (emerald green). To gain an ally, she takes under her wing Sir Criston, who wanted to commit suicide after killing Laenor’s lover.
Bunch of Bastards
After 10 years of marriage, Rhaenyra gave birth to three children, Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey, whose parentage is questioned by Alicent (the latter being brown, and not platinum or white like the Targaryens and Velaryons). The king, however, refuses to divorce his grandsons, even though it is obvious that their biological father is Sir Harwin, the son of the new Hand of the King. He ended up being assassinated, probably by someone close to Alicent, Larys Fort, who had sent three death row inmates. When this happens, Fort becomes lord, in addition to implicitly blackmailing the Queen.
Aegon, the eldest son of Alicent and Viserys, has become a spoiled little bastard (not unlike Joffrey Baratheon in Game Of Thrones). For her part, the princess wishes to maintain peace and therefore proposes to unite her son and heir, Prince Jacaerys, with Princess Helaena, Alicent’s daughter and therefore Rhaenyra’s half-sister. If Viserys is delighted, Alicent categorically refuses, strengthening the rivalries between the two Houses. Feeling in danger, Rhaenyra and her family leave King’s Landing to take refuge in Dragonstone.
After killing his wife Lady Rhea Royce, Daemon remarried Laena Velaryon, with whom he had twin daughters Baela and Rhaena. But his second wife dies and it is during her funeral that Daemon sees Rhaenyra again, and becomes (even more) intimate with her. Meanwhile, Daemon’s children, Alicent and Rhaenyra argue, and Lucerys accidentally cuts the left eye of Aemond (one of Alicent’s sons) who retrieved Vaghar, the fire dragon (haha) Laena who the particularity of being the largest and largest of its species.
Viserys dismisses this as childishness, but Alicent spins and seeks to put out Lucerys’ eye in retaliation. She hurts Rhaenyra who opposed her and comes across as an out-of-control crazy person in front of everyone. But to this defeat is added a victory for the Queen: the return of her father as Hand of the King. Feeling the wind turn, Daemon and Rhaenyra hatch a plan to get married and thus consolidate their alliance. Laenor fakes her death to escape with her lover and leave his place to Daemon, according to ancient customs (incestuous, therefore) supposed to guarantee the purity of the Targaryen lineage.
THE misunderstanding
Six years after their marriage, Daemon and Rhaenyra had 2 more children: Aegon III known as Aegon (not to be confused with Aegon II known as Aegon nor Aegon I known as Aegon the Conqueror), and Viserys II, the youngest, just to homogenize the family tree a little more. As for King Viserys, he is on his deathbed and drugged with poppy milk by his wife and his Hand, who thus manage all royal affairs. For his part, Prince Aegon (the eldest son of Alicent and Viserys) married his sister Helaena, because more or less incest… He also went crazy, raped servants, and bastards everywhere, which his mother and grandfather have to manage in the shadows.
To enlist the support of Princess Rhaenys, who is still mourning the false death of her son and the real death of her daughter, Rhaenyra proposes to marry her first sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys, to Baela and Rhaena, Daemon’s twins and so Rhaenys’ granddaughters. At first reluctant, she eventually accepted.
A detail that is not one: when Visery named his daughter heir, he revealed to her a secret shared from heir to heir for centuries: the prophecy of Aegon the Conqueror, the first king to sit on the Iron Throne after conquering six of the Seven Kingdoms. In addition to establishing the Targaryen dynasty, he also dreamed of a long, hard winter and the coming of darkness that would doom the world of man unless a Targaryen ascended the throne to unite all kingdoms (that is, the events of Games of Thrones with the White Walkers and the rise of Daenerys).
On his deathbed, the king confuses Alicent with Rhaenyra, and mentions the prophecy and Aegon (the Conqueror, therefore). But Alicent misinterprets his words and understands that her husband is asking her as a last wish to place their son Aegon on the throne, and not Rhaenyra. The Council is divided over who should succeed Viserys, but Otto suggests instead getting rid of Rhaenyra and her followers gathered at Dragonstone.
Otto threatens the lords who pledged allegiance to Rhaenyra 20 years ago, executing or imprisoning those who refuse to side with Aegon. This one is finally crowned in Port-Réal, but Princess Rhaenys (who had refused to ally with Alicent) arrives on her dragon to put pressure on the royal family, but without killing anyone. She leaves to warn Rhaenyra (pregnant to the neck) of the death of her father and the coronation of her half-brother. In shock, she gives birth to a stillborn baby. Viserys’ daughter, however, is crowned at Dragonstone and becomes the illegitimate “Dark Queen”.
Not wishing to start a war, Rhaenyra sends Jacaerys, Lucerys and their respective dragon as messengers to ensure the support of the Starks and Baratheons, in accordance with their past oath. Unfortunately, Lucerys comes across Prince Aemond, who is also trying to get the Baratheons in his pocket. As Lucerys leaves, Aemond pursues him on the back of a dragon, but loses control, until Vaghar kills them both. The season ends with Rhaenyra’s angry face and the promise of a future war, one called The Dance of Dragons.
