‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 drops two trailers, premiere date

There will be fire, and blood. 

The Targaryen family is back and at each other’s throats in the explosive new “dueling trailers” released Thursday for the next season of “House of the Dragon.”

The trailers also revealed the Season 2 premiere date: June 16. 

The hit HBO prequel to “Game of Thrones” follows Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) ancestors through a civil war, roughly 200 years before the events of “GoT.” 

“House of the Dragon” aired its first season in August 2022. It was a hit, with 29 million viewers reportedly tuning in each week. 

Based on George R.R. Martin’s fictional “history” book “Fire & Blood,” the “HOTD” plot follows Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock as a younger girl and Emma D’Arcy as a woman), who was named the heir to the throne, even though it’s unusual for a woman to rule.

She was originally best friends with Alicent Hightower (played by Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke), but their relationship fell apart when Alicent became Rhaenyra’s stepmother. 

After Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), dies, she ends up in a war with her half-brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), who claims that he should succeed their father. 

His mother, Alicent — Rhaenyra’s former best friend — is by his side, cheering on his rule, and so is his violent brother, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who ended Season 1 by accidentally killing one of Rhaenyra’s sons. This caused a furious Rhaenyra to end Season 1 with an angry look on her face, implying that she’ll have a bloody retaliation. 

Because they’re incest-happy Targaryens, Rhaenyra also happens to be married to her uncle, the volatile Daemon (Matt Smith), who is a formidable warrior. 

The two sides of the conflict over who is the rightful monarch are referred to as the Blacks (for team Rhaenyra) and the Greens (for team Aegon). 

There are even “dueling trailers” for the Green side and the Black side. 

Unlike in “Game of Thrones,” both sides of the fight have dragons, so their battles are extra deadly and chaotic. 

“Game of Thrones” star John Bradley, who played Samwell Tarly, recently told The Post that he’s not watching the show, “but everybody that I’ve spoken to loves it. I will get around to it one day. It feels a bit like the comparisons [to ‘GoT’] are slightly too easily made now for me to be able to really invest in it properly.” 

The Black trailer shows Daemon shouting, “We fight for our queen!” as Rhaenyra says, “My father chose me, his firstborn child, to succeed him … and yet, Alicent’s son sits on my throne.” 

Meanwhile, Daemon tells someone, “Renounce the false king, and bend the knee to the queen, or your house burns.” 

The Green trailer shows Alicent saying, “Rhaenyra’s supporters will believe what they wish, but Viserys wanted Aegon to succeed him.” 

Meanwhile, Aemond – the Green side’s best fighter — is shown saying, “My uncle is a challenge I welcome,” referring to Daemon, the Black side’s best fighter. 

“House of the Dragon” Season 2 will premiere June 16 on HBO.