The wait for the second season of House of the Dragon started all the way back in October 2022, but HBO gave fans something to look forward to with the news that it would arrive in the 2024 TV schedule with a summer release date. Now, an exec has narrowed down that time frame considerably, and fans can rest easy knowing that House of the Dragon Season 2 will arrive in June. The news makes me think back on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood source material, and why I have mixed feelings about revisiting it ahead of new episodes.
When To Expect House Of The Dragon Season 2
During an interview at Morgan Stanley's Technology, Media, and Telecom conference (via Variety), Warner Bros. Discovery streaming and gaming chief J.B. Perrette dropped some news that's particularly encouraging in light of House of the Dragon's second season reshoots. According to the exec, the premiere will release on HBO in June, although no precise date has been confirmed at the time of writing. Assuming that the show will return to the Sunday night time slot, however, we can say that the first episode of the Game of Thrones spinoff's Season 2 will air on June 7, June 14, June 21, or June 28.
So, civil war is coming to what remains of the Targaryen family tree after the bloody end to Season 1 in just a few months. That leaves some time to check out shows like Game of Thrones...or to check out George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, whether for the first time or a reread to refresh before the dragons in House of the Dragon begin to wreak havoc in June.
My Mixed Feelings On Fire & Blood
Now, I had actually read Fire & Blood after it released back in 2018, and I revisited George R.R. Martin's fictional Targaryen history book prior to the premiere of House of the Dragon's first season. In fact, I had fun comparing the show to the book and even recommended reading Fire & Blood shortly after the Season 1 finale. I appreciated how the show was able to answer some questions from the book's conflicting accounts, like what happened between Rhaenyra and Daemon that tarnished her reputation and resulted in his second exile.
But to this day, I'm also annoyed about how House of the Dragon made changes from the book to make the Greens look better compared to the Blacks, a.k.a. the Hightower-Targaryens vs. Rhaenyra and Daemon's side. For example, I can can go on at length – and have gone on at length – about how HOTD did Daemon dirty by having him kill his first wife when there was no question that he was innocent of that in the book. Having expectations can make for a frustrating experience in watching a TV show, which isn't really fair to the show.
If I don't revisit Fire & Blood before the Season 2 premiere in June, then perhaps I won't raise my expectations or hopes too high. There are some spoilerific moments – including one that I suspect will make some non-readers switch sides from the Blacks to the Greens – that are impossible to forget after reading George R.R. Martin's source material, but do I really need to revisit the battles and squabbles of the Targaryen civil war prior to seeing them adapted?
Honestly, I probably will revisit the book, not least because the Dance of the Dragons portion of the Targaryen dynasty only makes up part of Fire & Blood, which covers about 150 years of the family's time ruling Westeros. It's an interesting read... albeit one so full of Targaryens named "Aegon" that a family tree comes in handy. So, I will most likely revisit Fire & Blood in the coming months, but I also might not recommend it to anybody who hasn't already read it.
For now, fans who don't choose to check out Fire & Blood can always revisit the first season of House of the Dragon streaming with a Max subscription. All eight seasons of Game of Thrones are available on the streamer as well.
