‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2: The Only 5 Things You Need to Remember Before Watching

House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres this week, almost two years after Season 1 came to its horrific, and sort of confusing conclusion. The HBO hit is, of course, renowned for the depth of its world-building, the weirdness of its lore, and its many, many incestuous romances. One almost has to be a scholar of George R.R. Martin‘s work to keep up with all the Easter eggs, plot twists, and characters with similar sounding names. All of which is to say, it’s okay if you need a House of the Dragon Season 1 recap before Season 2 comes out on Sunday, June 16.

A lot of crazy things happened in House of the Dragon Season 1. There was a weird bad guy called the “Crabfeeder” and a dragon named Seasmoke. Larys “Clubfoot” Strong (Matthew Needham) burned his own father and brother to win Queen Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) “favor.” A little kid got his eye gouged out and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) killed his first wife and basically only one person cared.

The truth is, you kind of don’t need to remember all of those details if you want to jump back into the world of Westeros when House of the Dragon Season 2 comes out Sunday. There are a few basic, big details you will definitely want to remember, but other than that, you’re good!

Don’t have the time to rewatch House of the Dragon Season 1? Can’t remember who killed who and why Team Green and Team Black are even fighting? Here is your very own House of the Dragon Season 1 recap:

1. Former BBFs Alicent and Rhaenyra Hate Each Other Because of the Patriarchy

   Sure, you remember that when House of the Dragon Season 1 started, young Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) were besties, but why did they suddenly loathe each other after the time jump that replaced the O.G. actresses with Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke? Honestly, it’s all their fathers’ faults.

   Alicent’s dad, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is the biggest political power player in this era of Game of Thrones. When Viserys’s beloved wife Aemma (Sian Brooke) dies in forced childbirth, leaving no male heir to the Iron Throne except Viserys’s erratic brother Daemon, Otto makes two wild moves. First, he convinces Viserys to break with tradition and name his daughter, Rhaenyra, as the heir. Then, he grooms Alicent to become Viserys’s new queen.

   If it isn’t hard enough being a tween girl, Rhaenyra has to deal with her best friend now being her stepmother. Then, Alicent gives birth to a boy, named Aegon after the most powerful and famous king in the Targaryen family tree. Otto literally tells a crying Alicent that she either has to scheme to put Aegon on the Iron Throne or expect Rhaenyra to murder him and his younger siblings when she becomes queen. Making matters worse, Rhaenyra also lies to Alicent about losing her virginity! (If you’ve been a teen girl, that’s a huge blow.)

   Long Story Short: Rhaenyra thinks she deserves the Iron Throne because her daddy said so, but Alicent thinks her kids will die if they don’t take the Iron Throne because her daddy said so.

2. Ser Criston Cole Got His Heart Curbstomped By Rhaenyra and Alicent Swooped In

   The exact moment Alicent totally turns on Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon Season 1 is when she finds out that the unmarried princess lied about losing her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Ser Criston Cole is not a high-born lord, but a hedge knight who dazzled the realm when he defeated Daemon at a tournament. So Rhaenyra makes the handsome knight part of the Kingsguard, who are the celibate bodyguards of the royals. Emphasis on celibate. They are NOT supposed to have sex.

   Alicent sees Rhaenyra’s actions — seducing Cole, lying about it, and breaking the guy’s heart — as proof of a deceitful nature and decides to go full bore for Otto’s plans, embracing the Hightower war color of “Green.” (Thus birthing Team Green vs. Team Black.)

   Anyway, Cole is so distraught about what he’s done that he attempts to die by suicide, but Alicent stops him. After that, he is Alicent’s biggest fan. And yes, there was some sexual tension between them in Season 1, although they both were too self-righteous to act upon it.

   Long Story Short: Rhaenyra broke Ser Criston Cole’s heart and Alicent picked up the pieces, making the dangerous Dornishman obsessed with the Hightower queen.

3. Aemond, Alicent’s One-Eyed Son, Killed Luke, Rhaenyra’s Smaller Two-Eyed Son

   Any hope that Rhaenyra or Alicent might have had about resolving the line of succession without bloodshed was blown up in the House of the Dragon Season 1 finale. That’s because Alicent’s son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), accidentally killed Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys, aka Luke (Elliot Grihault).

   As children, Rhaenyra and Alicent’s kids intuited their mothers’ animosity and brought it into the proverbial playground. Rhaenyra’s kids would make fun of Aemond for not having a dragon, while the whispers in the court were that Rhaenyra’s kids were bastards, or “Strongs.”

   When little boy Aemond claims Vhagar, the largest dragon in the realm, a fight breaks out, a knife is pulled, Luke defends his brother by slashing at Aemond, accidentally taking out his eye. Which is where the eyepatch comes in.

   After Rhaenyra learns Aegon is on the Iron Throne, she dispatches her two oldest sons and their small dragons to parlay with various lords. Luke goes to House Baratheon, but Aemond is already there with massive Vhagar. After tense words in the castle, Luke bolts and Aemond follows to harass him. However Aemond loses control of Vhagar, who kills Luke and his dragon. Blood has been shed.

   Long Story Short: The eyepatch dude killed Rhaenyra’s precious little boy, which means war.

4. Mysaria Is a Person Who Exists and Has a Weird Accent (and Access to a Spy Network)

   This probably completely slipped your mind, but Sonoya Mizuno played a prostitute-turned-spy master named Mysaria, nicknamed the White Worm in House of the Dragon Season 1. She was originally Daemon’s girlfriend, but left him because she didn’t like being a pawn in his high-stakes political games.

   Later in House of the Dragon Season 1, we learn that Mysaria now makes money supplying the Otto Hightower with information about what’s going on in the castle and all over the city of King’s Landing. She helps Team Green find Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) so they can crown him and claim the Iron Throne. (Interestingly, Aegon did not want to rule because he knew he was unworthy and did not want to start a war with Rhaenyra!)

   In exchange for this valuable information, Otto Hightower orders Mysaria killed. Her house is set on fire, but we never see a body. So, you know, she’s probably alive! (Spoiler: She’s back in House of the Dragon Season 2.)

   Long Story Short: Mysaria finally has some stuff to do in House of the Dragon Season 2, so remember she exists.

5. “The Song of Ice and Fire” is a Prophecy About ‘Game of Thrones’ — and The REAL Reason There’s War

   In the very first episode of House of the Dragon, Viserys reveals to Rhaenyra a family secret. It’s a prophecy called “The Song of Ice and Fire.” Apparently Aegon the Conqueror only took over the Seven Kingdoms because he had a vision of a great threat coming from the north that would need a united Westeros and the Targaryen’s dragons to defeat. The prophecy hinges on the phrase, “The Prince That Was Promised.”

   If this sounds familiar to Game of Thrones heads, that’s because Aegon’s prophecy is about Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and the White Walkers. A Song of Ice and Fire is also the official name of George R.R. Martin’s series of Game of Thrones books.

   Anyway, Rhaenyra is the only person who knows about this. So when Alicent hears a dying Viserys mutter, “Aegon,” and “The Prince That Was Promised,” her clueless ass thinks Viserys’s dying wish is to put Aegon on the Iron Throne. It’s not. He’s muttering it because he thinks Alicent is Rhaenyra, his actual chosen heir.

   Alicent takes this as the green light to stage a coup and start a civil war. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, takes the prophecy as a command to keep Westeros united at all costs.

   Long Story Short: Alicent has no clue what “Aegon” or “The Prince That Was Promised” means, but Rhaenyra does. And so do we.

   And that’s it! Okay, there’s other stuff you might need to know, but these are the big plot points that you’re going to have to remember if you’re going to be able to follow House of the Dragon Season 2 without wasting ten hours of your life rewatching Season 1. (But would that really be a waste, or a bunch of fun?)

   House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres on Sunday, June 16 at 9 PM ET on HBO and Max