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Dragons and royal drama? Cool. But even House of the Dragon’s wildest moment couldn’t top Outlander’s most legendary episode. This one hit like an emotional freight train — fans were ugly crying, yelling at their TVs, and questioning their life choices all at once.

A still from Outlander | Credits: Sony Pictures Television

Sure, House of the Dragon brought fire and chaos, but Outlander brought pure, unfiltered feels. Sometimes, all it takes is time travel, heartbreak, and a killer storyline to absolutely destroy the competition. Mic drop.

Outlander’s finale proves love and heartbreak beat House of the Dragons any day A still from House of the Dragon | Credits: HBO Entertainment

The Season 2 finale, Dragonfly in Amber, rocks a killer 9.5 IMDb rating, beating House of the Dragon’s fiery crowd-pleaser The Red Dragon and the Gold (9.4). Yep, Jamie and Claire’s heartbreak-packed journey took down Westeros’ biggest dragon flex.

Spoiler Alert !!!Spoiler Warning for George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood

House of the Dragon fans must be taking this time to prepare themselves for the upcoming deaths in Season 3, although there is nothing that could get us all ready for Jacaerys Velaryon’s impending demise at the Battle of the Gullet as we’ve grown to like him and his tenacity in defending his mother’s claim to the throne.

Credits: Harry Collett in House of the Dragon / HBO

The character could charm us all, but he will inevitably meet his death after getting shot while fighting the Triarchy’s fleet. Unless the show has different plans for the young prince, we can count on the writers to make his end more dramatic and surprising by involving a nasty betrayal.

Jacaerys Velaryon’s Death in House of the Dragon Could Involve Betrayal From One of the Dragonseeds

The finale...

The second season of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon began with a visit to the North, where Rhaenyra Targaryen's son Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett) brokered an alliance with young Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor), the head of House Stark in these days. They didn't have much time together, but it was neat to visit the Wall again, and to see some of the Stark iconography.

For instance, Cregan Stark bore the Valyrian steel blade Ice, the same one that Ned Stark would wield over 100 years later on Game of Thrones...before it's used to behead him at the first season. The official Game of Thrones YouTube channel recently dropped a little behind-the-scenes video about how they recreated this iconic sword for the prequel show. Watch it above!

Does House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal seem a little too giddy over the prospect of getting to play with Ice,...

Today marks the release of House of the Dragon: Dawn of the Targaryen Civil War, a coffee table book that dives deep on the second season of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel show. Author Gina McIntyre had access to the set and was able to talk to cast and crew members about their experience. The book also includes tons of photographs straight from the set, concept art, pictures of props, and more.

Let's focus on the images for right now, because a lot of them are making their way around the internet, with an X user named @glindacent being extremely thorough. I won't actually embed the photos here for fear of angering the copyright gods, but will link out to tons of stuff, including:

A new pic of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) sitting on the Iron Throne in Daemon's visionA concept art illustration of that same momentMilly Alcock as Young...

Harry Collett is part of the vast ensemble cast on HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon. He plays Jacaerys Velaryon, the son of hopeful Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), which means he's only a few bodies from taking the Iron Throne. Collett only featured in a couple of episodes of the first season, but we got to see a lot more of his well-intentioned, noble-hearted character in season 2.

Collett talked to Hero about how he got the role in the first place. It ends up that HBO was trying to keep things hush hush at first, even from the stars. "I did a self-tape and it didn’t say much, it just said ‘Untitled HBO Series,’" Collett remembered. "I was like, 'Ok, that’s great, I know a lot now.' [laughs] My character was called Jack, so it could’ve literally been anything and this was...

Young actor Harry Collett is best known for his work on House of the Dragon, where he plays Jacaerys Velaryon, aka Jace. Jace had a frustrating time in the show's second season. He has his own dragon, Vermax, that he can ride, but as the son of future queen Rhaenyra Targaryen he was discouraged from riding it lest a political rival shoot him out of the sky. His mother burdened him with the knowledge of a prophecy which every Targaryen ruler must work to fulfill, and he feels his birthright is threatened by a bunch of a new peasant dragon-riders who are putting their feet up on tables and using the flatware wrong and generally classing down the place.

How do you relax in a situation like that? Sometimes you need to let it all hang out. This is all a very tortured segue into telling you that Harry Collett...

We have a while to wait before we get to see new episodes of House of the Dragon, HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series, but the cast members are keeping busy in the meantime. At the moment, Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen) is starring in a Greek myth-inspired drama called The Other Place at the National Theatre in London. D'Arcy is incredibly compelling onscreen and I can easily imagine them commanding the stage as well.

That said, the National Theater is an ocean away from where I live, so I doubt I'll be taking it in. But D'Arcy's House of the Dragon castmates live much closer. In a video on X, we can see House of the Dragon stars Harry Collett (who plays Rhaenyra's son Jace) and Ewan Mitchell (who plays her younger half-brother Aemond) showing up to watch their colleague work:

ewan mitchell and harry collett supporting emma d’arcy at...

Bella Hadid is back on the runway!

After a two-year hiatus, the 27-year-old model made her triumphant return while walking in the Saint Laurent Fashion Show held during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday (Sept. 24) in Paris, France.

For the show, Bella wore a black suit, white button-up shirt, black tie, and oversized.

The last time Bella walked in a fashion show was back in October 2022 before she took some time off to focus on her health amid her battle with Lyme disease.

Following the show, we compiled photos of the stars in attendance so that you can see who was there!

Keep reading to find out more…Keep scrolling to see the photos…

Anok Yai

Bella Hadid

Anja Rubik

Carla Bruni

Elsa Hosk

Fai Khadra

Gwyneth Paltrow

Harry Collett

Heart Evangelista

Iris Law

Jasmine Tookes

Justin Theroux

Kate Moss

Kid Cudi & fiancée Lola Abecassis Sartore

Laura Harrier

Lenny Kravitz

Lila Moss...

Ahead of the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2, HBO rolled out a number of gorgeous promotional images of the characters raked by pain and anguish, appropriate since they were about to go head to head in a brutal civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. It resulted in stark posters like this one of Rhaenyra Targaryen looking ashen and pained:

Teaser Art – Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon season 2

HBO released these images under the tagline "All Must Choose." Now, fans have found that photographer James Minchin has uploaded a bunch of other images that look like they're from that same batch, and they are gorgeous. Just look at Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra:

New promotional images of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen in ‘House Of The Dragon’ Season 2 pic.twitter.com/ZozjM0waS2

— westerosies (@westerosies) September 15, 2024

We encourage you to head to Minchin's website to check out the rest,...

Last week, George R.R. Martin took to his “Not a Blog” to hint at some significant grievances with the recent sophomore season of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, promising to go into more detail soon.

The writer has now done just that, with a lengthy post outlining why he felt one particular character omission in the season premiere could have a "butterfly effect" on later seasons of the show.

He also spoils a significant season 3 death - at least for those who haven't read the book.

In the show, King Aegon and Queen Helaena have two children (Jaehaerys and Jaehaera), but in Martin's Fire and Blood, the twins have a younger brother, 2-year-old Maelor. The infamous “Blood and Cheese” sequence in the series shows the hired thugs kill Jaehaerys in front of his mother, but the events of the book are quite different - and a lot more disturbing.

It sounds like George R.R. Martin may have some issues with the second season of House of the Dragon.

The Game of Thrones author, who is also listed as co-creator and executive producer on House of the Dragon, took to his “Not a Blog” over the weekend to hint at some significant grievances with the recent sophomore season of HBO's Got prequel series.

Martin began by admitting that he’s had “a pretty wretched year,” before revealing that he is planning to list off his problems with the show in an upcoming blog post.

"I need to talk about some of that, and I will, I will… I was away from my computer traveling from July 15 to August 15, so a lot of things that needed saying did not get said. I am glad I took that trip, though. My stress levels beforehand were off the charts, so much so that...

"Game of Thrones" was already popular by the time we hit the episode "Baelor," but it was Ned Stark's untimely beheading that helped turn the show into one of the biggest cultural events of the 2010s and a series that dominated the conversation for years. After that moment, audiences came to understand that no one was safe, and their list of favorite characters would slowly get shorter and shorter with each brutal death.

As monumental as each death felt on "Game of Thrones," however, behind the scenes there was a whole ritual around them. Said ritual has since been carried over to "House of the Dragon," a prequel/spinoff that promises to keep the death tool high, having already delivered some stunning death scenes in its first two seasons.

Speaking with Variety, Harry Collett, talked about his own encounter with death. The character was always likely candidate to be...

When it comes to adaptations, there are bound to be some changes from the source material, and in certain cases, they do end up elevating the experience. However, in most cases, shifting from the original does the opposite of amplifying the experience for viewers. While for the most part, House of the Dragon has been successful in translating certain things from George R.R. Martin’s works and has reignited the spark of the IP among fans, it isn’t immune to issues.

A still from House of the Dragon | HBO

Although the showrunners did attempt to cram in as much material from the books as possible, following the nature of TV, not everything made its way to the small screen. Reflecting on it, fans aren’t happy about being robbed of one crucial scene in season 2.

The Show Skips Through Most of Jace’s Meeting with Cregan in Winterfell A...

Harry Collett got a lot more time in the second season of House of the Dragon, where he plays Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen son and heir, Jacaerys Velaryon, aka Jace.

And with more responsibility comes a new look. In season 1, Collett sported a mulleted mop top that fans instantly clocked as a wig, but in season 2, he got to grow out his own hair.

Photograph by Ollie Upton / HBO

"In Season 1, I was cast quite quickly, and I had short hair and there wasn’t enough time to grow out my hair before I started shooting — a wig was the only option," Collett explained to Variety. "And they also didn’t have time to make me a wig, so it was kind of a thing of just getting one out of the cupboard and putting it on me. To be honest, I couldn’t rock that wig in Season 1 very well.

Jacaerys Velaryon, aka Jace (Harry Collett) and Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) got a bit more screentime in the second season of House of the Dragon than in the first, where we met them in their adult incanations just near the end. The two are counins as well as step-siblings. They're also engaged, because that's how it goes with Targaryens. We didn't see much of what they're like as a couple, but Bethany Antonia and Harry Collett are here to fill us in on how they function.

"They understand each other, which a lot of couples don’t on this show," Collett told Forbes. "Even if they do argue, it’s a very civilized argument, if that makes sense, so they’re very subtle about it. I feel like they both are going through so much, so they both try so hard not to upset each other and they talk out their feelings,...

The season 2 finale of House of the Dragon aired this past Sunday, with the episode - and the season overall - coming in for quite a bit of backlash.

Season 1 of the Game of Thrones prequel series laid the groundwork for the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, and season 2... continued to set up the conflict.

Though we did get to see a couple of exciting events such as the Battle of Rook's Rest and the Red Sowing, most of the episodes focused on moving the pieces into place for the major battles to come.

There's nothing wrong with more character-focused drama, of course, but the consensus among fans seems to be that most of the supporting players simply aren't compelling enough to sustain interest, and it seems obvious that HBO is padding out the story as much as possible with repetitive, drawn-out arcs.

Now, showrunner...

Burbank, CA – The reign of House Targaryen continues as Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is set to release the HBO Original drama series House Of The Dragon: The Complete Second Season. Following the unprecedented success of its first season, which captured hearts and imaginations worldwide, this latest installment promises even more drama, intrigue…and dragons! The physical release includes all eight heart-pounding episodes from the second season of the hit HBO series, with over an hour of bonus content, including two all-new, never-before-seen exclusive featurettes, plus extended “The House that Dragons Built – Inside the Episode” pieces for each of the (8) Season 2 episodes. House Of The Dragon: The Complete Second Season will be available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook Edition, 4K Ultra HD Standard Edition, Blu-ray, and DVD on November 19, online and in-store at major retailers. And for a limited time, while supplies last, collectible character cards are being...

Burbank, CA – The reign of House Targaryen continues as Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is set to release the HBO Original drama series House Of The Dragon: The Complete Second Season. Following the unprecedented success of its first season, which captured hearts and imaginations worldwide, this latest installment promises even more drama, intrigue…and dragons! The physical release includes all eight heart-pounding episodes from the second season of the hit HBO series, with over an hour of bonus content, including two all-new, never-before-seen exclusive featurettes, plus extended “The House that Dragons Built – Inside the Episode” pieces for each of the (8) Season 2 episodes. House Of The Dragon: The Complete Second Season will be available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD™ Steelbook Edition, 4K Ultra HD™ Standard Edition, Blu-ray™, and DVD on November 19, online and in-store at major retailers. And for a limited time, while supplies last, collectible character cards are being...

House Of The Dragon Season 3: Potential Release Date, Plot, Cast, & Everything We Know So Far(Photo Credit –Instagram)

After eight exciting episodes, House of the Dragon Season 2 ended with its August 4, 2024 finale. The HBO fantasy drama, which started as a prequel to Game of Thrones, has been able to carve its own niche with its thrilling narrative.

Now that season 2 has ended, and the show has already been renewed for another instalment, fans can’t help but wonder what’s in store for House of the Dragon Season 3. Let’s find out.

House of the Dragon Season 3: Potential Release Date

Though HBO greenlit the third season of House of the Dragon before the season 2 premiere, fans still have to endure a long wait before they set their sights on the dragon dance. Each show in the series takes a long time to produce due to the huge...

“House of the Dragon” hit a Season 2 high in viewership with Sunday’s finale, which drew 8.9 million multiplatform viewers across HBO and Max, per Warner Bros. Discovery.

That’s up 14% from the Season 2 premiere night, which garnered 7.8 million viewers. However, it is down from the audience size for the first season finale of “House of the Dragon” in 2022.

After premiering with 10 million viewers in June 2022, “House of the Dragon” Season 1 hit its peak with Episode 2, reaching 10.2 million. Exact data was not made available for Episodes 3-9, but Episode 10 closed the season with 9.3 million viewers.

Warner Bros. Discovery attributed the season opener declines to a drop in linear viewing, as fewer viewers now watch on HBO’s cable channel. But on the flip side, the conglom reports that Sunday’s “House of the Dragon” finale has now led to the biggest streaming day ever for Max, both in the U.S.

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“House of the Dragon” closed out its second season with a ratings high.

The Season 2 finale of the “Game of Thrones” spin-off series brought in 8.9 million viewers across HBO and Max on Sunday night, according to Nielsen and internal viewing figures from Warner Bros. Discovery.

That’s up 14% from the Season 2 premiere, which debuted to 7.8 million viewers in June. Season 2 is now averaging nearly 25 million cross platform viewers and Sunday marked Season 2’s best day on Max both domestically and globally.

However, viewership for the Season 2 finale was down slightly from the Season 1 finale, which brought in 9.3 million viewers in October 2022. While the Season 1 finale saw a slightly lower viewership when compared to the 9.986 million viewers who tuned in for the series premiere in August 2022, at the time, it...

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 8 and the Game of Thrones series finale.

HBO has fanned the flames of intrigue, and as House of the Dragon season 2 comes to an end, the fires have truly been lit beneath the Targaryen civil war. While House of the Dragon vies to tell its own story a century before Game of Thrones, it seems the prequel can’t help but tie itself to the mythos of its bigger brother.

This season has been littered with more prophecies than usual, but thanks to Daemon Targayren’s (Matt Smith) trippy weirwood tree vision, it’s not just Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) who’s looking to the future. The writers like meddling in the past more than Bran Stark, with the House of the Dragon season 2 finale potentially teasing a major Game of Thrones retcon involving the Prince That Was Promised.

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 8 and details from Fire & Blood that could spoil House of the Dragon season 3.

Did you find yourself a little disappointed with the House of the Dragon season 2 finale? You weren’t alone on that front.

Season two’s final episode appeared to stop just short of some real action. While Daemon resolved his family issues and Rhaenyra and Alicent resolved…whatever it is they have going on, the Dance of the Dragons civil war appeared to be stuck in a holding pattern on House of the Dragon.

Still, the final five minutes of the season 2 finale do act as a sort of sizzle reel for the action to come in season 3 as we see several armies and navies advance across the Westerosi landscape to parts unknown. With that in mind, let’s take stock of all the various factions on the board,...

In most cases, straying too far away from the source material is a recipe for disaster. While there have been exceptions, such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, fans, including George R.R. Martin, often don’t entertain filmmakers enforcing their own vision into adaptations of beloved stories.

But alongside filmmakers, fans also expect the actors to be well-versed about the work they’re adapting. However, this isn’t the case for Harry Collett, who plays Jacaerys Velaryon in House of the Dragon, and fans aren’t taking this revelation kindly.

Harry Collett Revealed He Isn’t Much of a Reader A still from House of the Dragon | HBO

On asked about what book he’d like to erase from his mind to read again during a sitdown with Buzzfeed Celeb, Harry Collett answered Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Additionally, the actor revealed that this was the only book he ever read.

(This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episodes 1–4.)

House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5, according to director Clare Kilner, “is everybody vying for power, but also about that happening through grief.”

Both Team Black and Team Green grapple with the aftermath of Episode 4’s fiery conclusion that brought about the death of Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon and the ambiguous maiming of Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). While Team Black grieves the loss of an important figure and their largest dragon, a power vacuum is filled at the Green Council. Sir Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) makes a miscalculation that opens the possibility of a new strategy for Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). Meanwhile, her husband Daemon (Matt Smith) remains away from Team Black’s home base in Dragonstone and her son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) considers new alliances.

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Spoiler Alert: This story contains major spoilers for HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale, titled “The Queen Who Ever Was,” now streaming on Max.

For “House of the Dragon” fans who watch the show, but haven’t read George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” there were certainly many questions left unanswered by the end of the Season 2 finale. But for those in the audience who’ve also read the source material on which the HBO series is based, there was at least one extra big query that was top of mind: Why didn’t Queen Rhaenyra’s son Jace die?

During the last installment of the show’s second season, titled “The Queen Who Ever Was,” Prince Jace Velaryon (Harry Collett) works alongside his mother Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and his wife Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) to prepare for the three new dragon riders they’ve brought into the...

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 7.

Tensions are high between the Greens and the Blacks as we approach the season 2 finale of House of the Dragon. Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) may have finally found a solution to her dragon problem. Daemon (Matt Smith) may have met his match with the young Ser Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes), but still finds himself with the Riverlands secured for Team Black. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) is at the end of her rope and takes some time in the woods for some R&r while King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is pushed to recover as soon as he can.

As things continue to heat up, here’s everything you need to know before the epic House of the Dragon season 2 finale, including when and where to watch.

When Does House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 Come Out?

The season finale of House of the Dragon...

The internet is dark and full of spoilers.

Just as details of the series finale of Game of Thrones and the first season finale of House of the Dragon were shared online, the same thing has happened with the final season 2 episode of HBO's prequel series.

Several clips from this coming Sunday's finale have been leaked via a TikTok account which has since been taken down, but the footage has made it to Reddit and Twitter.

The clips are said to amount to about 30 minutes of footage overall, and while a few key plot points have been revealed, the biggest spoilers - including the very ending of the episode - appear to remain under wraps (for now).

We won't be sharing the clips here, but the most significant talking point seems to be another Daemon hallucination/vision, this time involving a White Walker and the Queen of Dragons herself, Daenerys...

This week's penultimate season 2 episode of House of the Dragon, "The Red Sowing," finally gave Team Black the advantage in the Targaryen civil war, and if the teaser for next Sunday's finale is any indication, the Dance of the Dragons is going to be taken to another level of devastation as more fire-breathing beasts join the fray.

Spoilers follow.

After Seasmoke claimed Addam of Hull as his rider in the closing moments of last week's episode, Rhaenyra – with some convincing from Mysaria – decides to look for dragonriders among the lowborn, leading to an "army of bastards" arriving to Dragonstone in a perilous attempt to claim the second-largest dragon alive, Vermithor.

The notoriously volatile creature burns/devours most of the wannabes, but Hugh Hammer stands his ground and ultimately claims the dragon, with Ulf the White stumbling right into Silverwing's path and (luckily) managing to follow suit.

The episode concludes with...

It’s easy to forget with this season’s high kill count — including several dozen Targaryen bastards just as of Episode 7 — but “House of the Dragon” Season 2 opened with a moment of ancient power. Not just Jace (Harry Collett) and Lord Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor) visiting the Wall, already centuries old at the time of our story. The “House Stark” theme, which composer Ramin Djawadi wrote all the way back in 2011, makes its return to the world of Westeros. The strings are as aching (and heroic) as they’ve ever been, but the music feels heavier, more poignant, for all the years that we as viewers have lived with Djawadi’s variations of it.

It’s quite something to see — well, to hear — that return of one of “Game of Thrones” core musical identities and know that that’s the amount of oomph Djawadi will have imbued into his variations...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of "House of the Dragon."

Both "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" have cultivated fascinating relationships with their respective source material. The former infamously outpaced the publication of author George R.R. Martin's fantasy series titled "A Song of Ice and Fire," flying off a cliff like Wile E. Coyote once it exhausted the books at its disposal and forced to build the rest of its runway in midair flight ... and, yeah, you remember how that ended. The latter, meanwhile, came with the baggage of a thoroughly unconventional book to adapt. "Fire & Blood" is the furthest thing from a traditional novel, instead chronicling the feats of the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros from the perspective of an in-universe historian. Reliant on fictional secondhand sources and a mix of conjecture and personal bias, the author paints a broad portrait of historical events centuries after the fact.

Spoiler Alert !!!Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon Season 2

The latest episode of House of the Dragon saw the titular dragons finally get some screentime as Queen Rhaenyra tries to find Dragonseeds for her army. The episode sees a new set of dragon riders, who were not much known till now. Jace’s idea for finding dragon riders outside the family finally gets some traction.

However, Jace is shown as unaccepting of lowborn and Targaryen bastards being allowed to be dragon riders. Despite encouraging Rhaenyra to look outside the family, Jace suddenly seems to be against the idea of Targaryen bastards being dragon riders. However, in the book, Jace is reportedly the one who pitches the idea.

Jace’s Stance on Dragonseeds Is Different In House of the Dragon Change Than In The Books Harry Collett as Jace Velaryon | Credits: HBO

In episode 6 of the House of the Dragon,...

Warning: This article discusses major spoilers for the latest episode of "House of the Dragon," the book "Fire & Blood," and potentially future episodes of the series. Seriously. Here are more bold words to warn you about spoilers. 

You may have noticed that season 2 of "House of the Dragon" has been something of a slow burn thus far, slowly ramping up the tension between different factions of House Targaryen until everyone's hit their breaking point -- or simply become exceedingly desperate. Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and the rest of Team Black have officially reached their limit in that regard, answering Team Green's superior numbers and strength on the field by flying headfirst into one of the most dangerous and ill-advised gambits the Seven Kingdoms have ever seen. The dragon riders storyline has been carefully set up over the last few episodes, positioning various contenders across the continent who might happen to possess...

As this week's episode of House of the Dragon continued to move the various pieces into place as we head towards the season 2 finale, two characters allowed themselves a brief moment of happiness among the death and dragon-fire.

Spoilers follow.

Along with Seasmoke seeking out his own rider, Aemond making the most sinister sick bed visit in history, and Daemon still wondering whey he's hallucinating at Harrenhall (hint: it might have something to do with the drinks your new witch bestie makes for you every night before bed), we got a surprising moment of passion between Queen Rhaenyra and her new adviser, Lady Mysaria.

The scene begins with Mysaria revealing how she got the scar on her neck after suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of her own father. Rhaenyra embraces her ally to offer some comfort, but the hug lingers and the two end up sharing a kiss before being interrupted by a guard.

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 6 and details from Fire & Blood that will spoil future moments of the show.

The Blacks are facing a big problem on House of the Dragon. Their ancestral seat of Dragonstone is teeming with dragons and yet they’re running low on Targaryens to actually ride them to war.

Thankfully, in season 2 episode 5 “Regent,” Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Prince Jacaerys (Harry Collett) dream up an ingenious solution: dragonseeds. Due to the Targaryen family’s prolific sexual appetites, there are plenty folks in the Seven Kingdoms who have a little bit of the “blood of the dragon” in them even if they don’t have a Targaryen surname. Perhaps Rhaenyra’s supporters can track down some of these folks and see how they take to the skies.

It’s a solid plan, but will it work? Who are these dragonrider...

Halfway through “House of the Dragon” Season 2, we need to assess our surroundings. There have already been multiple major character deaths, an airborne dragon battle, attempted fratricide, twin-on-twin violence, and a character known only as “Cheese” kicked a dog.

At the midseason mark, two of IndieWire’s TV critics weigh in: Is the season worth the C+ bestowed upon it by Ben Travers? Will it live up to Proma Khosla’s dreams of “Fire & Blood?” With Ryan Condal now operating as sole showrunner, the series has a de facto creative leader at the helm, one whose commitment to the source material has his cast in awe.

There are still canon departures and literal flights of fancy (thanks to Matt Smith’s Daemon), as well as moments that harken back to “Game of Thrones” in its heyday.

Here’s what our critics had to say.

Ben Travers: What is going on...

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2

With only a few episodes left this season, House of the Dragon has certainly been gaining momentum as the tense war between the Greens and the Blacks continues to rage on. Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is somehow still alive, though badly burned, Daemon (Matt Smith) continues to have a terrible time at Harrenhal, and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) struggles to compete with the might of Vhagar.

With chaos at King’s Landing and potential new dragon riders on the horizon, the next episode of House of the Dragon looks like it’ll be a hot one. Here’s what you need to know before diving into episode 6, including when and where you can watch the episode.

When Does House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 6 Come Out?

The sixth episode of House of the Dragon’s second season will air on HBO on Sunday,...

Sunday's episode of House of the Dragon was a somewhat subdued affair after the fiery events of last week's hour, but it did conclude with Rhaenyra Targaryen and her son Jace hatching (no pun) a plan to bring two powerful new dragons into the battle.

Silverwing and Vermithor - two of the oldest and largest dragons alive - have resided on Dragonstone for many years with no riders, but Jace believes Team Black can enlist people with traces of Valyrian blood to claim the fire-breathing beasts, thus giving them an advantage - or at least even the playing field - in the war against the Greens.

If you've been paying attention, you might have a pretty good idea of which minor characters (one only appeared in a single scene earlier this season) will become new dragonriders.

Spoilers follow.

If the show follows the book, it'll be Hugh Hammer, the blacksmith fretting about his poorly daughter,...

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 5.

With only three episodes left this season, House of the Dragon is already setting the stage for what is sure to be an epic finale. Episode 6 looks to be another nail-biter with the unpredictability of both dragons and Daemon (Matt Smith) threatening the stability of the Blacks.

At the start of the trailer, Rhaenrya (Emma D’Arcy) looks to be taking Jacaerys’ (Harry Collett) suggestion of finding riders for their riderless dragons seriously. Addressing an unknown person, or group of people, she says “It has never been attempted before. To claim a dragon, you must also be prepared to die” which isn’t ominous at all. As Jacaerys’ pointed out though, it would give them a necessary leg up over the Greens’ massive army and their monster of a dragon Vhagar. They just have to make sure that whoever they...

[Warning: The following contains Major spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 5, “Regent.”] Rhaenyra is getting creative in her war efforts in House of the Dragon. Inspired by a conversation with son Jace (Harry Collett) in Season 2 Episode 5, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is now exploring the possibility of finding dragonriders in Targaryen descendants. The episode’s final scene may have just made a moment from Episode 3, plus other new side characters introduced this season, make sense. A new House of the Dragon character, Ulf, made his drunken debut in Episode 3, “The Burning Mill.” HBO announced Ulf as one of the new characters in Season 2 prior to the season’s release. Played by Tom Bennett, he made his debut in the third episode. While sitting in a brothel tavern, Ulf claimed to be the son of Baelon the Brave, a.k.a. the bastard brother of Daemon (Matt Smith) and Viserys (Paddy Considine) and bastard grandson of King Jaehaerys Targaryen.

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for “House of the Dragon” Season 2, as well as major upcoming plot points from George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.”

Like “Game of Thrones” before it, “House of the Dragon” is no stranger to canon departures from George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood.” From minor modifications to adding padding for episodes that were just a paragraph in the book to major adjustments that redirect character arcs, this series has it all — while preserving the spirit of a story that has captivated fans for years.

In Season 2, Episode 5, “Regent,” characters deal with the aftermath of what happened at Rook’s Rest, a major battle at that should have been an easy victory. Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) uses his army to draw out Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys, planning to ambush them with Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) on Vhagar — but they didn’t...

Tread carefully: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of "House of the Dragon" and spoilers for the book, "Fire & Blood."

If the ending of "House of the Dragon" season 2, episode 5, titled "Regent," is anything to go by, the next stage of the Dance of the Dragons is about to kick into gear, and it may forever alter the balance of power in the Seven Kingdoms. Those who've found themselves wishing for "more action" throughout this deliberately-paced season 2 so far could end up regretting those words -- especially since, as we've seen, adding more dragons into the mix tends to come with dire results. Unfortunately, the main issue facing Team Black is an alarming lack of firepower to compete with the might of the one-eyed Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his fearsome beast Vhagar, particularly following the loss of Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys in the Battle at Rook's Rest.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of "House of the Dragon."

If season 2 of "House of the Dragon" has felt like something of a reunion tour so far, you're not the only one who's noticed. The premiere episode set the nostalgic tone right from the start by checking back in with the Northerners at Winterfell before moving on to Tom Taylor's Cregan Stark at the freezing Wall, a setting and a people we haven't seen since Jon Snow (Kit Harington) rode out into exile during the final episode of "Game of Thrones" in 2019. Of course, many of the major locations initially featured in the original series remain the same as in the prequel-- after all, it'd be tough to tell another story about infighting over the Iron Throne without returning to the Westerosi capitol city of King's Landing or the island fortress of Dragonstone, to name just two.

Warning: This article contains dragon-sized spoilers for the latest episode of "House of the Dragon."

It's easy to forget that, when it debuted in 2011, "Game of Thrones" defined itself by very different standards than the ones audiences would eventually come to demand. During its initial seasons, we hardly ever experienced budget-breaking battles spanning the length of entire episodes or a gaudy sense of scale only one degree removed from blockbusters like "The Lord of the Rings." Instead, what really grabbed viewers in the first place was exactly what readers found so engrossing in author George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series: the Machiavellian scheming that a broad range of characters tried and mostly failed to use to protect -- or take over -- the Iron Throne.

While "Game of Thrones" may have ultimately traded that identity away in favor of a less nuanced (but undeniably more spectacular) one,...

Sunday's fourth episode of House of the Dragon concluded with an intense "Dance of the Dragons" involving three of Westeros's fire-breathing beasts and their riders, and by the time the smoke had cleared, the devastating Battle of Rook's Rest had claimed the life of one major character and severely injured (at the very least) another.

Riding Vhagar, the oldest and largest dragon alive, Aemond Targaryen managed to take out Rhaenys Targaryen's dragon Meleys, sending beast and rider plummeting to a fiery death.

King Aegon and Sunfye were engaged in battle with Rhaenys and Meleys when Vhagar attacked, and Aemond's first blast took down his own brother. Collateral damage, or was Aemond seizing an opportunity to gain revenge on his older sibling for consistently taunting and making fun of him as a child?

During an interview with Total Film, Aemond actor Ewan Mitchell indicated that his character knew exactly what he was doing,...

“House of the Dragon” drew 8.1 million viewers across HBO and Max in the U.S. for its fiery fourth episode of Season 2 on Sunday, just besting the audience size for the premiere last month.

On June 16, “House of the Dragon” debuted its second season to 7.8 million viewers, putting the Season 2 premiere 22% below the 10 million viewers that the “Game of Thrones” prequel series launched to in 2022.

Per Warner Bros. Discovery, the premiere of “House of the Dragon” Season 2 is now approaching 25 million viewers, and catch-up viewing over the Fourth of July holiday led “House of the Dragon” Season 2 to its “strongest week yet” on Max between July 1-7.

Sunday’s Episode 4, titled “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” featured an epic dragon battle scene. Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and his dragon Vhagar of the Greens, who is joined at the last minute by his usurper sibling King Aegon Targaryen II...

Aemond Targaryen is really leaning into the whole kinslayer thing!

This week's fourth episode of House of the Dragon concluded with an aerial "Dance of the Dragons," and the devastating Battle of Rook's Rest claimed the life of one major character and severely injured (at the very least) another.

Riding Vhagar, the oldest and largest dragon alive, Aemond managed to take out Rhaenys Targaryen's dragon Meleys, sending beast and rider plummeting to a fiery death. King Aegon and Sunfye were engaged in battle with Rhaenys and Meleys when Vhagar attacked, and Aemond's first blast also hit his brother.

If the show follows George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood, Aegon will survive (just about) with severe burns, but it certainly looked like Aemond was thinking about finishing the job back on the ground before Criston Cole interrupted.

During an interview with EW, actor Ewan Mitchell addressed his character's decision.

"It...

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 episode 4.

Now that we’re at the halfway point, House of the Dragon’s second season is heating up fast. Vhagar has once again proven that she’s the baddest dragon in the realm, taking Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys down at Rook’s Rest. King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is down for the count after taking Sunfyre into battle against literally everyone’s wishes. Daemon (Matt Smith) is still having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad time in the haunted halls of Harrenhal. And if the trailer for episode 5 is any indication, things are only going to get more intense from here. Give it a watch above.

The Greens seem to be continuing their tradition of parading corpses around King’s Landing to gain support from the people. The head of Meleys can be seen being...

"There's no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons."

Rhaenys Targaryen's words to her niece Queen Rhaenyra in the season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon proved to be tragically prophetic, as the courageous "Queen that Never Was" lost her life during episode 4's climactic Battle of Rook's Rest.

Lured into a trap by Aemond Targaryen and Criston Cole, Rhaenys and her dragon, Meleys, put up a hell of a fight, but Vhagar, the oldest and largest dragon alive, simply proved to be too powerful.

King Aegon and his dragon, Sunfye, were caught in the crossfire (or was it an intentional attempt by Aemond to claim his brother's throne?), and while Aegon did appear to survive (barely), Meleys suffered catastrophic injuries before plummeting to the ground in a fiery explosion.

With a last look into the eyes of her dragon,...

If you’re watching “House of the Dragon” for the dragons, congratulations — and also, sorry for your loss. The HBO drama showed off its majestic CGI creatures extensively in Season 2, Episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” a beastly battle with devastating human cost.

The realm is as divided as ever, but at the top of this episode directed by Alan Taylor, one side is quite literally divided; Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) is on her way home from King’s Landing while her council unravels at Dragonstone and prince consort Daemon (Matt Smith) attempts to win over more allies in the riverlands. The queen’s absence incenses the council and irks her family; Jacaerys (Harry Collett) grows particularly restless because Rhaenyra’s secrecy and the council’s insolence both indicate disrespect for the young heir, as does his mother’s refusal to send him to battle. Jace might be old enough to join in the war,...