When looking at spoilers from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood book, what can fans expect to happen throughout the rest of House of the Dragon Season 2?
House of the Dragon Season 1 faithfully followed the timeline of events in Fire & Blood, only making some slight changes that did not affect the narrative much.
Some of those changes included having Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen be around the same age (and be friends), making it seem as though Aemond killing Lucerys wasn't entirely deliberate, and having Vaemond Velaryon be Corlys Velaryon's younger brother instead of his nephew.
House of the Dragon Season 2 Spoilers From the Book
Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood book, here is a list of possible events that could happen in House of the Dragon Season 2 and the episode that they could possibly occur in.
Daemon Takes Harrenhal - Episode 2
In Fire & Blood, one of the biggest moments for Rhaenyra and the Blacks was when her husband and uncle, Daemon, conquered Harrenhal.
In the book, Daemon travels to Harrenhal on the back of his dragon, Caraxes, while Lucerys and Jacaerys Velaryon go their separate ways to try and gain supporters for Rhaenyra.
This means that, in the show, Daemon taking Harrenhal will occur a little later in the timeline than it did in the book, but it is still an important moment that will likely be included in Season 2, possibly as early as Episode 2.
It is important to remember that Larys Strong, who is a strong supporter of Alicent Hightower and the Greens, is currently Lord of Harrenhal, but since he is at King's Landing, his great uncle Simon is currently at Harrenhal.
In the book, once Daemon arrives, Ser Simon remembers what happened to Harren the Black when he stood against Aegon the Conqueror, so Ser Simon surrenders the castle to Daemon.
The Battle at Rook's Rest - Episode 4
One would assume that a massive battle including multiple main characters would be saved for the penultimate episode of Season 2, or perhaps even the season finale, but this is House of the Dragon.
In Fire & Blood, The Battle at Rook's Rest is one of the biggest and most important turning points in the entire Dance of the Dragons.
As seen in the House of the Dragon Season 2 trailers, at some point Ser Criston Cole will get a promotion and be named Hand of the King.
This also happens in the book, as King Aegon II gets pretty frustrated with Otto Hightower after Aegon's son, Jaehaerys, is killed by Blood and Cheese.
Aegon then names Criston Cole the new Hand of the King, who decides to be a bit more aggressive in his strategies.
Criston takes nearly 2,500 men to Rook's Rest to lay a trap for the Blacks, with Aegon II and Aemond Targaryen (along with their dragons, Sunfyre and Vhagar) in the skies above them.
On the way to Rook's Rest, Criston, Aegon, and Aemond made sure to take out as many of Rhaenyra's allies as possible if they wouldn't switch sides and bend the knee to him.
When they reached Rook's Rest, Aegon and his forces did not directly attack the castle, but instead destroyed all of Lord Staunton's resources, forcing him to request aid from Rhaenyra.
Rhaenyra's son, Jacaerys, wanted to help lead the charge at Rook's Rest, but Rhaenyra forbade him to do so.
Instead, Rhaenys Targaryen jumped on her dragon, Meleys, and rode by herself to aid Lord Staunton.
When Rhaenys arrived, the trap was sprung. The Greens' archers and scorpions couldn't take down Rhaenys or Meleys, resulting in her and her dragon killing about 800 men.
However, Aegon (who was on Sunfyre) and Aemond (atop Vhagar) met Rhaenys in the skies, resulting in an all-out dragon battle.
Rhaenys managed to severely wound Aegon and Sunfyre, but Vhagar's presence was too overwhelming. After they all collided and fell to the ground, Rhaenys' lifeless body was discovered on the ground, charred and blackened.
Meleys also perished.
However, Aegon and Sunfyre sustained a great deal of damage as well. Sunfyre had one wing half torn from his body, making him unable to fly, and Aegon suffered severe burns and a lot of broken bones.
Since he was unable to rule for the time being, Aemond became Prince Regent and took over the king's duties from Aegon.
The Sowing of the Seeds - Episode 5
The Sowing of the Seeds is an event that was heavily teased and set up in House of the Dragon Season 1.
Fans will remember in the first installment when Daemon Targaryen listed out some of the dragons who had no riders. This was likely an intentional bit of dialogue that will come back around when the Sowing of the Seeds possibly takes place in Season 2.
Since Sunfyre was injured at the Battle at Rook's Rest, only Vhagar and Dreamfyre were left to defend King's Landing.
Seeing an opportunity to take back King's Landing and the Iron Throne, Jacaerys Velaryon made a call to all Targaryen bastards or their descendants, urging them to come forth and try to bond with a dragon.
These people were promised knighthood, lands, and great wealth if they were successful.
So, many came. Some succeeded and some failed, but the Blacks did achieve their goal as different people bonded with three unclaimed dragons.
Seasmoke, who was seen in Season 1 being ridden by Laenor Velaryon, was claimed by Addam of Hull, who was supposedly a bastard son of Laenor.
Vermithor, who is a massive dragon still on Dragonstone, was claimed by a man named Hugh Hammer. Finally, Silverwing was claimed by Ulf the White.
The Battle of the Gullet - Episode 7
After the Sowing of the Seeds, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and the new dragon riders planned on riding to King's Landing to take down Vhagar and Dreamfyre, thus clearing the way for Rhaenyra to take back the city and sit the Iron Throne.
However, before they could do so, Dragonstone was informed of an attack on the Gay Abandon (and its escorts), which is a ship that was escorting Rhaenyra and Daemon's sons, Aegon III and Viserys II, to safety.
Jacaerys, Ulf the White, Nettles, Addam Velaryon, and Hugh Hammer all went to dispose of the Triarchy, who were the ones attacking the Gay Abandon.
As fans will remember in Season 1 of House of the Dragon, the triarchy faced Caraxes and Seasmoke in the war for the Stepstones, so they had a bit of experience facing dragons.
However, five dragons were too much for the Triarchy, but they did manage to capture Viserys II.
It is also extremely important to note that, during this battle, Jacaerys Velaryon and his dragon, Vermax, both perished, thus dealing another major blow to Rhaenyra and the rest of the Blacks.
The Fall of King's Landing - Episode 8
In what will likely be the major event to end House of the Dragon Season 2, fans will see Rhaenyra Targaryen and the rest of the Blacks retake King's Landing from the Greens.
In Fire & Blood, Aemond Targaryen and Criston Cole knew that Daemon had taken over Harrenhal for the Blacks.
In an attempt to take it back, the pair (along with Vhagar) marched toward Harrenhal, thus leaving King's Landing rather defenseless considering Dreamfyre was the only dragon left guarding the city.
So, Daemon and Rhaenyra, riding Caraxes and Syrax, along with Corlys Velaryon's fleet of ships, rode to King's Landing.
After Alicent Hightower was informed of the coming invasion, she sent for Criston and Aemond to be informed and to return to the city.
However, the Blacks had a clever plan up their sleeves.
Fans will remember that, in House of the Dragon Season 1, Otto Hightower claimed that it was a mistake to make Daemon the leader of the City Watch and that they were too loyal to him.
Well, their loyalty to Daemon paid off in a big way for the Blacks, as they still sided with him from inside the city walls, resulting in Alicent not being able to send messages to Aemond or Criston and the commanders of the city gates being killed.
The leader of the City Watch, whose name was Luthor Largent, then opened the city gates, allowing the army of Black soldiers to infiltrate the city.
Since they were so overwhelmed, Alicent surrendered King's Landing to Rhaenyra.
Now, it is important to make a few footnotes for this event. For example, King Aegon II was smuggled out of the city by Larys Strong before Alicent and the other Greens were captured.
His daughter, Jaehaera, and surviving son, Maelor, were also smuggled out with him.
It is also important to mention that Otto Hightower was then executed for treason just before Rhaenyra went and sat on the Iron Throne.
However, it is possible that House of the Dragon will reverse those events, waiting to execute Otto until the premiere episode of Season 3.
No matter if the events are reversed or not, it is hard to imagine a more powerful shot to end Season 2 than Rhaenyra sitting on the Iron Throne.
Season 1 of House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max, and new episodes of Season 2 are released every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and on Max.
Read more about House of the Dragon:
Why Did Aegon Marry His Sister Helaena In 'House of the Dragon'?
Who Becomes King If Aegon Targaryen Dies? House of the Dragon's Line of Succession Explained
