Summary
- Get ready for the darkness:
House of the Dragon
promises a horrific storyline that will shock and unsettle fans. - “Blood and Cheese” subplot looms: Showrunner hints at impending cataclysm, teasing grim events to come in Season 2.
- Olivia Cooke’s unexpected viral fame: Star reflects on pervasive meme, sharing mixed feelings about sudden internet stardom.
House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal and star Olivia Cooke have set the stage for a series of events that promise to darken the already grim landscape of this popular series. The showrunner teased an even more horrific storyline than fans witnessed in the debut season.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Condal hinted at an impending cataclysm known among fans as “Blood and Cheese,” a subplot that is as grim as its name suggests. He stated:
A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones have conditioned people to expect the unexpected and expect the horrible. But, yeah, that one’s pretty horrific. We’ll see what people make of what’s to come.
Without giving away too much, the official Season 2 trailer gave viewers a glimpse of this dark chapter. It featured shadowy figures armed with a torch and a club, making their way through a hidden passage—a signal of the terror that awaits Alicent Hightower, portrayed by Cooke, and her daughter, Queen Helaena.
House of the Dragon
Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.
- Release Date
- August 21, 2021
- Seasons
- 2
- Studio
- 1:26 Pictures, Home Box Office (HBO)
- Franchise
- Game of Thrones
- Network
- HBO Max
- Directors
- Miguel Sapochnik , Clare Kilner , Alan Taylor , Greg Yaitanes , Geeta Vasant Patel , Andrij Parekh
House of the Dragon, which explores the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, continues to explore the fierce battle for succession that defines this prequel to Game of Thrones. The initial season concluded dramatically, with Rhaenyra Targaryen, played by Emma D’Arcy, witnessing the death of her young son in a tragic dragonback incident, setting a somber tone for the struggles to come.
As Condal points out, the success of both Game of Thrones and its spinoff stems from their ability to subvert expectations and shock their audiences with the extreme lengths characters will go to claim power. Season 2, with its focus on espionage, deceit, and the looming march to war, aims to intensify these themes, drawing viewers deeper into the violent struggle that tears at the fabric of the Targaryen dynasty.
House of the Dragon Season 2: What We Want To See
From more dragon battles to avenging the murder of a major character, there are many things fans would love to see in House of the Dragon season two.
House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke Reflects on Viral Fame
Aside from delivering on long-awaited draconic clashes, House of the Dragon has also made an unexpected impact in the digital world, becoming the source of one of 2022’s most pervasive memes. The series star Olivia Cooke recently shared her mixed feelings about her viral internet fame.
The meme originated from a promotional clip for the show’s first season, where Cooke, in a playful exchange with co-star Emma D’Arcy, reacted with genuine surprise to D’Arcy’s preferred cocktail, a “Negroni, Spagliato, with prosecco.” Cooke’s reaction, “Stunnin’!”, delivered in her native Mancunian accent, quickly transcended the moment, spiraling into viral status across platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cooke revealed she was not as thrilled as the millions who shared and chuckled over the clip.
“We were just trying to make each other laugh. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. I did hate it for a very long time. I was in the pub. A woman opened the door for me, and she said with a thick Spanish accent, ‘Stunnin’!’ I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ Over a decade’s worth of work reduced to a single word in my lexicon.”
Cooke expressed frustration over how a brief, lighthearted interaction overshadowed her comprehensive work on the show. The actor felt her work was diminished when the public’s perception narrowed to a fleeting internet meme.
“It’s just sad how you work for eight months and it f*cking gets reduced to a f*cking TikTok, and that makes me sad.”
