Billy Oduory looks ahead of House of the Dragon season 2 (with spoilers from the book)…
“The war will be fought. Many will die. And the victor will eventually ascend the throne,” Allicent says in HBO’s most recent teaser of the second season of House of the Dragon. Her words only spice up fans’ already heightened expectations of an explosive second season. However, her comments about the victor ascending the throne have also left fans wondering just how short Aegon II Targaryen’s reign will be in the show since he only ascended the throne towards the end of the first season.
Despite Aegon II Targaryen’s kingship appearing precarious from the start, he is backed by powerful forces in the Hightowers, the Baratheons, and possibly the Lannisters since Jason Lannister hates Rhaenyra for refusing to marry him. Having the most formidable dragon alive in Vhagar on his side also gives Aegon and the Greens an upper hand in most one-on-one dragon fights.
However, as seen in Game of Thrones, winning a war doesn’t always mean a direct ticket to the Iron Throne in Westeros. The Dance of the Dragons in George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood which is the source material for House of the Dragon, maintains that trend. So, let’s start by looking at how many years Aegon II Targaryen rules in the books to get a clear picture of how much longer his reign will last in House of the Dragon.
Where does Season 2 of House of the Dragon pick up?
“An eye for an eye. A son for a son. Lucerys shall be avenged,” reads Daemon’s letter to Rhaenyra in Fire and Blood. This letter and Daemon’s ensuing revenge plot are expected to mark the beginning of the second season of House of the Dragon since the showrunner, Ryan Condal, confirmed that the second season will pick up from where they left off in the first season. In the books, the letter comes while Aegon II Targaryen is throwing a big feast for his brother Aemond to congratulate him for convincing the Baratheons to join the Greens and killing Lucerys Velaryon in the process.
Unknown to Aegon II Targaryen, the killing the Luke will mark the beginning of the bloody civil war that will almost wipe out House Targaryen. The first season already introduced the two shadow characters of Blood and Cheese (a former gold cloak and a rat catcher) who are hired by Daemon to sneak into the Red Keep and kill Aegon’s heir Jahaerys in revenge for Lucerys’s death. The murder of the innocent boy in front of his mother is expected to mark the show’s most harrowing death.
While the kinslaying will set the emotional trend of the second season of the show, major battles will still be part of the plot as Daemon is expected to quash the last of the support for the Greens in the Riverlands at the battle of the Burning Mill. The firing of Otto Hightower as Aegon’s Hand of the King, replaced by Criston Cole is also expected to mark the most significant event in the Red Keep.
Criston Cole proceeds to help the Greens retake control of the Red Keep by beheading lords who are still loyal to Rhaenyra and bringing Black-allied houses in the Crown Lands to heel. His onslaught on these lords allied to Rhaenyra is seen in the trailer where he beheads a man dressed in black. The images from the trailer of the second season also suggest that the season will culminate in the three-way dragon battle of Rook’s Rest where Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys are killed and Aegon II Targaryen is badly injured while his dragon Sunfyre loses a wing.
Is Aegon II Targaryen still king in House of the Dragon Season 2?
Despite some images from the trailer showing Aemond One-Eye in the Great Hall of the Red Keep, there is nothing from the teasers to suggest that he takes the Iron Throne in the second season. We, therefore, believe that Aegon II Targaryen will still be sitting on the Iron Throne in most, if not all of the second season of House of the Dragon.
However, Aegon II Targaryen’s rule doesn’t inspire many victories for the Greens because he is neither a warrior nor a good king. He heavily relies on his mother (Alicent) and his grandfather (Otto Hightower) to make most of the decisions for him. In the books, he is forced to fire Otto Hightower when he fails to lift the Valeryon blockade on King’s Landing “quickly enough.”
While he will continue sitting on the Iron Throne, the most powerful warrior for the Greens will still be his brother Aemond. Aemond has proved himself to be a better warrior and leader than Aegon. Alicent and Otto Hightower are still expected to retain their roles as the brains behind most of the moves made by the Greens, with Otto’s scheming and backstabbing dominating most of the action.
The second season will see more of Aegon II Targaryen in action though, as opposed to the first season where he showed no interest in leadership. The sight of the catspaw dagger during his coronation reinvigorated his desire to rule, also suggesting that he would be a heavy-handed ruler.
How long does Aegon II Targaryen’s reign last in the books?
Aegon is crowned king in 129 AC in Fire and Blood, marking the beginning of his tumultuous rule that would oversee the bloodiest civil war in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. His reign lasts until 131AC, although he isn’t always the one sitting the Iron Throne in that period. After the battle at Rook’s Rest, which leaves half of Aegon’s body burned, Aemond One-Eye takes the throne to rule as the Prince Regent for over a year as Aegon recovers from his wounds.
With armor melted into his skin by dragon flame, Aegon is left permanently bent and scarred and has a puffy face from Milk of the Poppy. He never fully recovers from his wounds, although he survives long enough to oversee a coup in Dragonstone while Rhaenyra is in Kings Landing. He also breaks his legs while on Dragonstone, which leaves him twisted and unable to walk for most of what is left of his life.
Despite his injuries, Aegon manages to kill Rhaenyra who walks into Dragonstone unaware of Aegon’s coup. Fortunately, Aegon then spares Rhaenyra’s youngest son, Aegon, mostly because he isn’t as comfortable with kinslaying as his brother Aemond. However, killing Rhaenyra doesn’t secure victory for Aegon because Rhaenyra’s forces led by the Tullys of Riverun, Starks of Winterfell, and Arryns of the Vale stay loyal to Rhaenyra’s son and march on the capital.
The Dance of the Dragons leaves Aegon II Targaryen with no allies and no family to rely on, which makes it impossible for him to wage war. History favors Rhaenyra over Aegon as far as leadership goes, but in reality, Rhaenyra isn’t any better than Aegon when she finally becomes queen of the Seven Kingdoms, albeit for a short period. Rhaenyra is never accepted as Queen by the commonfolk in Kings Landing, especially with the shadow figure of The Shepherd leading a revolt against her.
Who killed Aegon II Targaryen?
Aegon II Targaryen was found dead in his litter in the royal sept with blood on his lips which meant he was poisoned. His death is shrouded in mystery, although many fingers point at Corlys ‘ The Sea Snake’ Velaryon as the mastermind. With armies closing in on King’s Landing, and all the Green Armies defeated, Aegon’s fate was pretty much sealed. Corlys Velaryon advised him to abdicate and take The Black, but Alicent convinced him that holding Aegon as a hostage made him untouchable.
Despite being allied to Rhaenyra, Lord Cregan Stark conducted a trial when his forces arrived in the capital and found Corlys Velaryon, Larys Strong, and Perkin the Flea to be the masterminds of the murder. Aegon’s death was a welcome outcome since it spared the realm from further bloodshed, but Lord Stark, just like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, just wouldn’t spare the kingslayers. He had Larys Strong, Lord Gyles of the King’s Guard, and Grand Maester Orwyle executed for their roles in poisoning the king.
Corlys Velaryon wasn’t punished for his role in the plot, although his friend Perkin was sent to the wall. The Starks eventually emerge as the saviors of the realm once again as was the case in Game of Thrones. The Tullys and Arryns are also formidable forces that stay loyal to their vows to King Viserys to whom they swore to accept Rhaenyra as the heir.
While Aegon II Targaryen isn’t the hero during the Civil War, he isn’t the only villain either. Aegon never takes full charge of his kingship, which means that those who control him make most of the decisions. This allowed the greed and ambition of those around him to influence most of his decisions.
As far as House of the Dragon is concerned, fans should expect Aegon II Targaryen to be that nuisance that just won’t go away. He keeps coming back to frustrate Rhaenyra despite appearing weak and with no significant backing. He is also likely to outlive Rhaenyra in the show as he does in the books because House of the Dragon has largely retained the sequence of events in George R. R. Martin’s books, so fans shouldn’t expect him to die in the second season.
House of the Dragon features a cast that includes the returning Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham, along with new additions Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne, Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower and Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong.
