HBO released 2 trailers in preparation for House of The Dragon Season 2, and what a brilliant move that was! Together, both trailers have garnered 18 million views. However, one stands on taller shoulders and (properly) outranks the other. Guess which? Team Black trailer has 10M views as of the writing of this article, and Team Green has 8.8M.

Beware of spoilers! This breakdown will include spoilers from both Season 1 and the book canon. If you wish to be unspoiled, we’ll see you here after Season 2! Also, disclaimer: My roasts here are all in good fun; proceed expecting salt.

Now, since there are 2 trailers, ya’ll get 2 trailer breakdowns. I was unlucky enough to tackle Team Green, and the lovely co-host of your favorite Decoding Dragons podcast, Lizabeth Phoenix, breaks down the Team Black trailer. Ready? Let’s gawwrrrr.

To begin, here’s a brief breakdown of how Season 1 went. *inhale* 

The topic of succession has always been at the tip of a Targaryen’s tongue. At the very beginning of Season 1 of House of the Dragon, King Jaehaerys held a Great Council to determine who would get the throne since his sons had died. It was between a Female and Male cousin. The Male who won out was King Viserys. Queen Aemma of House Arryn was his wife and is Rhaenyra’s mother. Since Rhaenyra was King Viserys’ only child, and her mother died giving birth to an heir, King Viserys named Rhaenyra his true heir. Main problem: She is a woman, and women don’t get to do anything fun. 

Fast forward, the King’s hand is a slimy mole and implants his daughter, aka Rhaenyra’s best friend, to become King Viserys’ new wife. You read that right. We have incest and young brides. Alicent, the new Queen, gave birth to a son, meaning the King now had a proper boy to inherit the throne. 

However, King Viserys still held true to his word to Rhaenyra after the houses in the realm claimed her as their heir in a ceremony. This causes more strife because your closest girlfriend marrying your Dad causes some issues to begin with. Rhaenyra felt obligated to claim her place on Dragonstone from feeling unwelcome in King’s Landing, and Alicent had the Red Keep. The strife kept growing until the misunderstanding of the century (mentioned below), and a dragon chomp heard around all of Westeros. 

Alicent acts as Team Green’s figurehead because the Hightower color is green, and Rhaenyra’s camp is Team Black because of the black and red in the Targaryen colors (and generally more badassery. Who wants to roll into a battle carrying a green flag? Do better).  Now you’re caught up. Here’s the Team Green season 2 trailer:

We start off with a shot of Alicent Hightower and a voice in the background exclaiming that Aegon is the one true king left behind by King Viserys. The Targaryen Crest arrives, shimmering in Hightower green as the trailer begins.

Alicent in Mourning

We get Alicent whining her way through dealing with the death of her “Lord Husband” amongst peace in the realm and a beautiful shot of the Dragon Pit. Alicent continues her monologue about the misunderstanding of the century, implying King Viserys knew the realm would never accept a Queen and wanted her son Aegon to succeed him.

The Misunderstanding of all the Centuries

In Season 1, he was, in fact, talking about Rhaenyra’s new son named Aegon being the Prince Who Was Promised (remember that storyline?) and would help the realm survive throughout the realm of Doom. Since both Daenerys and Jon Snow (Aegon) descend from Rhaenyra’s line, this would help ensure the Night King is defeated. Back to the trailer, Alicent’s Father is still corrupting all he can by letting Alicent know the war is purely for vengeance for the death of Prince Luke Rhaneyra’s son, who met an unfortunate ending by way of a Vhagar’s mouth at the end of Season 1. Common sense is seemingly not so common with these Hightowers, eh.

The new ‘King’ tries his hand at being intimidating (it doesn’t work), and Alicent reminds him of the sacrifices made to put him on the throne. Sounds like some major Mom guilt. Prince Aemond, King Aegon’s brother, gets his moment in the spotlight of the trailer with Crispy Cole, proving he is, in fact, Team Green’s wish-dot-com Daemon. Long hair, no smile, mommy issues….I’ll take Daemon over that, please, and thank you. 

Otto’s Scheming Ass

We follow a shot of a funeral followed by Sir Otto’s meddling ass telling Alicent that Team Green will prevail but with sacrifices and violence. Welcome to war, I suppose, since King Child is so excited about it.

Rook’s Rest?? 

There’s a majestic shot of the only viable threat to the Blacks when it comes to the war, being Vhagar flying through the clouds. There are a few quick succession shots of battles, where we see Criston Cole hauling ass on a horse into the woods and a female of House Bracken ( I think, don’t quote me on this one) drawing a sword in true Brienne of Tarth fashion.

Aegon II’s “Rule”

The trailer ends with Aegon being escorted to the Iron Throne and taking his un-rightful place amidst the swords he has no business being in the presence of with a voice in the background saying, “ALL HAIL KING AEGON!” Uh-huh.

Bonus Tidbit: Dreamfyre – Drogon’s momma? 

One dragon speculation we may be able to see is if Dreamfyre is Drogon’s Mom! There are rumors that the 2 look very similar, and there is a story that 3 of her eggs went missing and were found in Pentos. Could they be the 3 we see Daenerys with?? Will we find out?

Since I have not read Fire & Blood, I am so excited to see how season 2 goes. When Season 2 airs, you need to keep an eye on Couch Soup when Liza and I get back behind the mics and dissect the episodes on a weekly basis in Couch Soup’s Watching Now: Decoding Dragons! Now that you have an understanding of the Team Green trailer, go check out the Team Black Trailer breakdown from Liza and stay tuned for that first episode!

What team are you on, dear reader? Let’s battle it out (kindly) in the comments!