‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Will Make Viewers Switch Sides, Ryan Condal Promises
House of the Dragon Season 2 is heading for war, or at least it appears to be after the season finale. Lines have been drawn and sides taken on the show, but creator and showrunner Ryan Condal hopes to make viewers shift alliances the longer the show goes on.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the House of the Dragon Season finale.]
Condal was a guest on the House of the Dragon podcast on Oct. 23 after the season finale aired. Looking ahead to House of the Dragon Season 2, Condal isn’t spoiling anything to come but he has reason to believe people will switch sides.
Ryan Condal isn’t on either side in ‘House of the Dragon’
When King Viserys (Paddy Considine) died in episode 8, the time for succession arrived. Alicent (Olivia Cooke) heard Viserys say Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carey)’s name on his deathbed and took that to mean he’d named their son King. Of course, Viserys always intended Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) to be the first Queen of Westeros. Both sides have enough supporters to form an army.
“I’m team good storytelling,” Condal said on the House of the Dragon podcast. “I think people will come out of this season feeling like they’ve taken one clear side and it’s never going to change and that’s it and that’s the way it goes. I understand that and it goes from maybe episode to episode or arc to arc.”
‘House of the Dragon’ already played with sympathies before Season 2
Condal looks at the fan response to Alicent over season 1 as evidence that his show is working. When Viserys chose young Alicent (Emily Carey) as his wife after Aemma (Sian Brooke) died, House of the Dragon fans felt sorry for her. Not so much anymore.
I don’t know that Alicent and her ilk are very popular this moment but there was a time when everybody felt really bad for Alicent, felt like Rhaenyra was the one. She’s a tragic character. Certainly the Alicent of episode 4, that’s a different thing than we have now but you have to realize that these things don’t happen in a vacuum. The Alicent of episode 4 has led us to the Alicent of episode 9. My hope is that continues on and as the story goes on its peaks and valleys and movements, and there are many to come, that I think people will think that they’re going one way and they’re going to say, ‘Oh no, I’m completely off this.’
Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon podcast, 10/23/22
Taking neither side is a side too
Condal would also be happy if viewers come to the conclusion that both sides are wrong. Will House of the Dragon Season 2 do the trick or will it take longer?
“Or just come to the conclusion that ‘I can’t support either side of this. I just want them to all stop fighting. Please stop the madness.’” Condal said. “That’s also a possibility too. What we’ve really tried to do is populate this world with complex characters who do not subscribe to the classic white hat, black hat cowboy story villain, hero thing. Everybody is just an individual with wants and needs of their own in this very difficult situation with different forces all around them, parents, children and loyalties and ambitions all pulling at each other and they result in choices that are sometimes heroic and sometimes really monstrous.”
