For Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy, the second season of House of the Dragon is informed by grief and finding a way out of the darkness.
The stars of the hit HBO fantasy series attended the season two premiere at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Monday, and they both spoke with ET about what’s in store for their respective characters as the new season picks up.
D’Arcy stars as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who is battling to ascend the throne after the death of her father, Viserys, at the end of season 1. Meanwhile, Smith stars as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Rhaenyra’s husband, as well as her uncle.
“We meet them both in a state of deep grief,” D’Arcy shared. “[And] they’re two bereaved people who really struggle to communicate.”
“They’re not good communicators,” D’Arcy said of Rhaenyra and Daemon, “and actually, I think something about their dynamic means that they are not willing to show weakness to one another. This is sort of a fundamental flaw in their relationship. They don’t want to be seen to be weak.”
“So I think… it’s gonna be bumpy,” D’Arcy added.
‘House of the Dragon’ stars Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, and showrunner Ryan Condal, pose together at the season 2 premiere of their HBO fantasy series in New York on June 3. – Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Smith feels Daemon’s motivations are fueled by a sense of duty and honor, but they ultimately drive a wedge between him and Rhaenyra.
“We pick up in a very complicated situation,” Smith said of season 2. “There’s a lot of grief flying around in the air and I think, you know, Daemon is doing things that he thinks are for the benefit of the family. [Things] he’s sort of duty bound to do really.”
However, Smith said that Daemon’s actions and ambition “invariably creates a deeper fragmentation between” them.
“In many ways, he’s sort of on his own path,” Smith said, adding, “They’re a complicated bunch.”
“I think grief is a major motor for the show as a whole and certainly for Rhaenyra’s sort of narrative arc through the series,” D’Arcy shared.
D’Arcy also explained that the “political designs have never felt more personally important” this season.
“I think for Rhaenyra, particularly, her inheritance, sitting the Iron Throne, her name in the Targaryen histories, all of these feel like a way to remain closer to her father. Her late father. So yeah, sitting on the throne is a fundamental personal need now, as well as a sort of political aim,” D’Arcy explained.
House of the Dragon is a prequel series to HBO’s megahit Game of Thrones, and is adapted from the novel Fire and Blood by author George R.R. Martin. It tells the history of House Targaryen, the family dynasty that ruled the seven kingdoms of Westeros hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon’s first season ended in October 2022 with dramatic flair, as alliances were forged in the battle between the Black Council — those supporting Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne — and Green Council — the conspirators who aided Aegon’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) ascension after the death of King Viserys (played by Paddy Considine).
Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy as Prince Daemon and Princess Rhaenyra in ‘House of the Dragon.’ – Warner Bros.
Apart from Prince Daemon and his niece-turned-wife Princess Rhaenyra, other returning players include Queen Alicent (Cooke), her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), her children, Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), King Aegon II (Glynn-Carney) and Helaena (Phia Saban), and her loyal servant, Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and Corlys aka the Sea Snake (Steve Toussaint) will also be back.
Additional actors joining the series are 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, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, and Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull.
Season 2 of House of the Dragon debuts June 16 on HBO.
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