Larys Strong – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

House of the Dragon: Season 2, Episode 1 – A Son for a Son

“Duty is sacrifice. It eclipses all things, even blood. All men of honour must pay its price.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Gird your loins (metaphorically speaking), for after a gap of nearly two years, HBO’s spinoff/prequel to Game of Thrones is finally back for a second season. That large gap reflects a very big, expensive production – but of course it also represents a lot of backstage difficulty with both a writers’ and actors’ strike. Nonetheless, it’s notable that it’s back a couple of months before arch-rival Amazon show Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

House of the Dragon: season 1, episode 6 – The Princess and the Queen

“What are children but a weakness?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

And just like that… it’s ten years later.

This is a shame, as I’d grown rather attached to the actors playing the younger parts, who now must necessarily be recast; though the older characters often don’t seem to have aged at all. So, it’s out for Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra, replaced by Emma D’Arcy; while Queen Allicent, her former friend and now deadly rival, is incarnated by Olivia Cooke, replacing the perfectly decent Emily Carey. Theo Nate, meanwhile, has been replaced as husband-in-name-only Laenor Velaryon by John MacMillan, who, as of this episode at least, looks strangely about the same age.