\n<\/p>\n
Where does the story pick up this season on HBO\u2019s fantasy epic \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d the actor Tom Glynn-Carney told a reporter on Monday night at the Season 2 premiere at Manhattan\u2019s Hammerstein Ballroom, everything \u201chits the fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
His character in the \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d prequel, the newly crowned King Aegon II Targaryen, holds a grip on the throne that is tenuous at best. His brother has just killed their nephew in what could best be described as death by dragon chomp. And his sister Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen is on the brink of going nuclear \u2014 as Targaryens tend to do \u2014 likely with more dragon chomping.<\/p>\n
Even as Mr. Glynn-Carney, Matt Smith and other \u201cDragon\u201d actors laid out the violence in store for the new season \u2014 which returns June 16 \u2014 the show\u2019s impending civil war stood in stark contrast to the evening\u2019s cocktails and joviality, with not a single silvery wig in sight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Some actors have struggled to recognize each other without them, said Phia Saban, whose character, Queen Helaena Targaryen, plays a critical role in an early episode. (There were 114 wigs used this season, HBO\u2019s chief executive Casey Bloys said at the premiere, and \u2014 back to the dragon chomping \u2014 33 gallons of fake blood.)<\/p>\n
The night was also a victory lap for a risky spinoff<\/a> that had early hopes of living up to its pop culture juggernaut of a predecessor. \u201cDragon\u201d averaged, according to HBO, around 29 million viewers<\/a> each episode in its first season \u2014 numbers that aren\u2019t far from the records broken<\/a> by \u201cThrones.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing that we had coming into Season 2 was just knowing that we had our audience and that they trusted us,\u201d the showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal said in an interview on the green carpet, \u201cand that we just had to now pay off on what they were expecting.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some of the actors dressed according to the season\u2019s color-coded rivalry, which has been played up in the show\u2019s marketing. Team Black for the Targaryens aligned with Rhaenyra \u2014 played by Emma D\u2019Arcy, who wore a rhinestone-covered black Celine jacket \u2014 and Team Green for the Hightowers and Targaryens supporting Aegon\u2019s claim. (Mr. Glynn-Carney\u2019s velvet suit was a deep pine.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Olivia Cooke, whose character, Queen Alicent Hightower, often wears her house\u2019s emerald hues, opted instead for a cerulean Loewe gown: \u201cI\u2019m bored of green now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ms. Saban paid homage another way, with a buoyant robin\u2019s egg bubble of a Stella McCartney dress. \u201cI kind of feel like a dragon egg,\u201d she said on the carpet, giving a little twirl.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At the after-party, in the shadow of a massive Thronesian tree with blood-red leaves, cast members mingled with more than 450 guests, a mix of staff and executives from HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery alongside a smattering of actors and influencers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Cooke spoke in one corner of the ballroom with the actor Justin Theroux. He was there to support his friend Clare Kilner, a director on the show. The actress Emilia Jones, from \u201cCODA,\u201d slipped in late sporting a new mullet. (The timing and her hair, she said, could be attributed to a new HBO crime drama series<\/a> she is filming alongside Fabien Frankel, another \u201cDragon\u201d actor who plays Ser Criston Cole.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Swerve Strickland, a professional wrestler, carried a blindingly embellished All Elite Wrestling championship belt over his shoulder throughout the night. Some of his own performance in competition, he said, has been inspired by the show: \u201cI kind of pull a lot of things,\u201d he said, adding, \u201ca lot of the story and character development are what I do in the ring, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was a bad guy for a while,\u201d he added, noting that his character feels similar to Mr. Smith\u2019s morally gray Daemon Targaryen. \u201cNow I\u2019m kind of switching over, but I still have bad-guy elements.\u201d<\/p>\n A long line of attendees gathered beside a replica of the Iron Throne itself, waiting to take a photo surrounded by heaps of swords.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Nearby, a table stacked with slices of pizza played up the impending onscreen battles with a more familiar New York rivalry: Would guests select Roberta\u2019s Pizza and its Calabrian chile \u201cSlice of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d? Or John\u2019s of Bleecker Street\u2019s cherry pepper and ricotta offerings?<\/p>\n (There were 60 large pizzas on hand, those working the ovens said \u2014 John True, a manager at Roberta\u2019s and a massive \u201cThrones\u201d fan, added that he had eagerly volunteered to work the party on his day off.)<\/p>\n The evening\u2019s specialty cocktails added to the fiery theme, including a tequila-based concoction with jalape\u00f1os and, of course, a dragon fruit lemonade.<\/p>\n There was no sign, however, of any Negroni Sbagliatos<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n