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It has been nearly two years since the shadow of dragons\u2019 wings last darkened our screens. When \u201cHouse of the Dragon,\u201d HBO\u2019s hit \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d prequel based on the book \u201cFire and Blood\u201d by George R.R. Martin, returns this weekend, its sprawling cast of characters will be prepping for war, the sides distinguished by the color of the banners they fly.<\/p>\n
The Blacks are led by Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D\u2019Arcy). Named heir by her father, King Viserys, years earlier, she has seen her claim to the Iron Throne of Westeros usurped by her younger half brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney); he and his backers, including his mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), are known as the Greens. Now these two women will determine the fate of what remains very much a patriarchal world.<\/p>\n
Whether you want to pick a team or simply brush up ahead of the Season 2 premiere, airing Sunday on HBO, here is a primer on the major players from both sides of the great dragon divide.<\/p>\n
Long the only child of the late King Viserys Targaryen, Rhaenyra was proclaimed heir by the king in defiance of centuries of tradition that held that only males could rule. She was fine with this, having little use for tradition herself. But Viserys\u2019s marriage to Rhaenyra\u2019s childhood friend Alicent Hightower and the subsequent birth of Aegon created a rift within the royal family. After learning of her father\u2019s death and Aegon\u2019s crowning in the capital city, King\u2019s Landing, Rhaenyra launched her rival reign from House Targaryen\u2019s ancestral island home, Dragonstone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The mercurial Daemon is Rhaenyra\u2019s uncle, second husband and king-consort. He is also the reason she was named heir in the first place: Viserys feared what he might do with the power of the crown if he inherited it. Bonded with the sinuous red dragon Caraxes, he is the most experienced and dangerous dragon-riding warrior in the realm. His devotion to Rhaenyra\u2019s cause, however, can give way to insubordination and abusive behavior.<\/p>\n
The head of a proud house that, like the royal family, traces its lineage back to the lost empire of Valyria, the man they call the Sea Snake is the greatest sailor, explorer and admiral in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. He has allied with Rhaenyra and Daemon despite a common perception that they are to blame, directly or indirectly, for the deaths of his own children: their former spouses, Laenor (believed murdered) and Laena (who died in childbirth). Corlys\u2019s powerful fleet rivals the dragons in its importance to the coming war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Rhaenys is known as the Queen Who Never Was, having been passed over as heir to the Iron Throne for her younger male cousin, Viserys. Since then she has emerged as an equal partner to her husband, Lord Corlys. Though unwilling to ignite the war herself by burning Rhaenyra\u2019s rivals during her dragon-borne escape \u2014 from King\u2019s Landing, she has since taken the would-be queen\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
The official story is that Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey are Rhaenyra\u2019s sons by her dead husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon. In truth, Laenor \u2014 who is secretly alive and well with his boyfriend somewhere \u2014 is not the biological father of any of them, a rather obvious fact that is the cause of much of the animus toward Rhaenyra among the sprawling royal family. (Unlike their father, Laenor, whose hair is Valyrian white-blonde, the brothers have the dark hair of their true biological father, Ser Harwin Strong, who was killed later in an act of arson orchestrated by his own brother, Larys.) Nevertheless, Jace is now an heir to the Iron Throne via his mother, and he has flown loyally to the North to win over House Stark.<\/p>\n