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You could say that House of the Dragon Season 2’s cold open was ice cold. That’s because rather than pick up with the fiery drama unfolding down at Dragonstone and Kings Landing, the HBO show took fans back North, to Winterfell and the Wall. House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 “A Son for a Son” introduces us to Lord Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor), whom Prince Jaecerys (Harry Collett), aka Jace, has flown to so he can win the Starks to his mother Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) cause.
**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 “A Son for a Son,” now streaming on Max**
House of the Dragon doesn’t dither up north long, however. We have a scene where the young nobles opine over their ancestors making pacts and visiting the Wall together, Cregan teasing that the Night Watch is defending the realm against something far more sinister than Wildlings. Cregan Stark sticks by his family’s oath and promises “Greybeards,” aka older, experienced veterans with not much else to live for in the winter, to Team Black. But the conversation is cut short when news finally arrives that Jace’s brother, Lucerys “Luke” Velaryon (Elliott Grihault), has been killed.
And that’s it for House of the Dragon‘s time at Winterfell, which may have come as a disappointment to hardcore George R.R. Martin fans. In his fake history book, Fire & Blood, Martin offers all sorts of tantalizing rumors about Jace’s time at Winterfell. There’s a story about a romance with Cregan’s bastard sister, Sara Snow — which some fans interpret as veiled language for a love story with Cregan himself! — as well as chatter that Jace’s dragon Vermax laid eggs at Winterfell.
None of this makes the show, though the Jace/Cregan ‘shippers remain undeterred.
During a recent roundtable interview with Harry Collett, Decider asked the House of the Dragon star about fan theories placing Jace with Cregan or even Sara Snow, and he made it clear he was happy to roll with all of them.
“I always say with the Cregan thing, I’m always like — or whoever they ship Jace with — fans can interpret however they want. ‘Cause it’s their story, ultimately,” Collett said. “When you watch the show, everybody has a different view on it. So interpret, if you will, as you will, you know? It’s not up to me, or Tom Taylor, for that matter.”
What Collett and Taylor were more anxious about, it seems, was getting the House of the Dragon Season 2 cold open “right.”
“Well, obviously, because we’re opening the season there, it was a lot of pressure. Because it’s such an iconic place and I wanted to make sure that I did it right,” Collett said. “So me and Tom really worked hard to please the fans as much as we can.”
A few minutes before the interview, Decider caught Collett admiring the incredible views of New York City from HBO’s Hudson Yards offices, so we had to ask how the two vistas compared.
“Yes, it did look very different in real life,” he said with a smile. “There was blue screen. We did it on the back lot, so it was all fake snow. There was really gravel on the floor, which is slightly underwhelming, but it’s obviously fine.”
“But the set was incredible because to be at such an iconic place, me and [showrunner] Ryan [Condal] were kind of geeing out about it because of how cool it was. And we hope the fans feel so nostalgic going into Season 2 with that.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 might not have given Jace a heady romance up North (yet?), but Collett was emphatic that his character’s love life was in a good place this season. (Even if everything else is terrible.) That’s all thanks to the way the relationship between Jaecerys and his cousin/step-sister/betrothed Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) is set to develop.
“So the thing is with Jace and Baela this season, we kind of see them mature and grow up together,” Collett teased. “They just have this really nice and healthy relationship, and they’re acting as adults, really.”
“It’s nice because the way I saw it when I watched it was this is our future king and queen. That’s what they remind me of. And they just get on so well and I get on well with Bethany, and we have a strong connection in real life, so hopefully that’s rubbed off on screen as well.”
Sorry, Sara Snow truthers. For now House of the Dragon just wants to give focus to Jace and Baela.
