House of the Dragon season 2 may have only boasted one major battle, but it laid the foundation for several to come in seasons 3 & 4. The HBO prequel series is based on Fire & Blood, a companion book to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire book series that details the reigns of the Targaryen kings, beginning with Aegon the Conqueror. This includes the events of the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that saw dragons fighting dragons, Targaryens fighting Targaryens, and the noble houses of Westeros fighting deadly battles on their behalf.
The Battle of Rook’s Rest was the first major battle of the Dance depicted on House of the Dragon, claiming the life of Rhaenys Targaryen and seeing King Aegon II Targaryen brutally injured. The season received criticism for its slow pacing in non-action-focused episodes, but it importantly laid the foundation for several crucial moments to come, including many of the major battles fought in the war. With two seasons to go, several battles will be split across the remaining episodes, leading up to the outcome of the Dance of the Dragons.
7The Battle Of The Gullet
Fought Between The Velaryon Fleet & The Triarchy
Lord Corlys Velaryon established his blockade of the Gullet in the season 2 premiere, using his massive naval force to prevent sea trade in and out of King’s Landing. The Greens suffer greatly due to this blockade, as the common folk of the capital begin to starve and subsequent riots break out. Toward the end of the season, Aemond finally comes up with a strategy to deal with the blockade, as the Greyjoys have ignored their requests for alliance and the Greens’ fleets are still taking time to mobilize.
Aemond sends Tyland Lannister across the Narrow Sea to delegate with the Triarchy, who have a grudge against Daemon and Corlys Velaryon due to the War in the Stepstones in season 1. House of the Dragon’s season 2 ending shows their fleet sailing for Westeros, where they should collide within the next few episodes of the series. Of course, with Rhaenyra’s new dragonriders, she’ll have an airforce to support the Velaryon fleet, but that won’t prevent it from being a costly, pivotal battle. It should also be an incredible visual spectacle, as the franchise’s first true naval battle.
The Triarchy is an alliance between the Free Cities, Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys.
6The Fall Of King’s Landing
Rhaenyra Retakes King’s Landing From The Greens
The House of the Dragon season 2 finale directly sets up the Fall of King’s Landing through Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower’s closing scene. In one of the most enormous book changes from Fire & Blood, Alicent tells Rhaenyra that she’s going to surrender King’s Landing to her upon Aemond’s exit to the Riverlands. This will allow Rhaenyra to take the Iron Throne that’s rightfully hers and hold it for the proceeding section of the war. The Fall of King’s Landing will see a notable shift in settings for various characters, but it won’t be a particularly bloody battle.
In Fire & Blood, Aemond’s absence leaves King’s Landing relatively undefeated, and Rhaenyra is able to capture it with the help of Daemon without much bloodshed. With Alicent directly surrendering the capital, it could just be a simple transaction in the TV series without any action at all. Still, there should be some dragon screen time and drama surrounding this event whenever it occurs, especially now that Alicent has promised Aegon to Rhaenyra and he’s fled the city without her knowing.
5The Battle Of The Honeywine
The Hightower Forces Enter The Fold
House Hightower is known to be one of the most powerful families in Westeros during the time of House of the Dragon, yet they haven’t really done too much so far. Criston Cole was able to pull off his stunt at Rook’s Rest with the minimal Hightower forces at King’s Landing, but there’s a much larger army marching toward the capital from the Reach to lend their support in the war. This should be the largest land force during the Dance, giving the Greens some hope. The season 2 finale also showed that they’re accompanied by Prince Daeron Targaryen.
Daeron Targaryen is the youngest son of Alicent and King Viserys, who hasn’t appeared in the show so far. He has a dragon named Tessarion who’s quite young but should get his first battle experience at the Battle of the Honeywine. Not all the forces of the Reach support the Greens, especially after the brutal murder of Lord Lyman Beesbury in season 1, episode 9. The battle will see the Hightower forces collide with those in the Reach who support Rhaenyra, including House Beesbury, House Tarly, and more.
4The Battle At The Red Fork
Jason Lannister And The Riverlords Clash
Tyland Lannister’s twin brother, Lord Jason Lannister, has assembled his forces in the Westerlands and spent much of season 2 marching toward the Riverlands. Meanwhile, Daemon Targaryen rallied forces under House Tully for the Blacks. These two armies will come to a head at the Battle at the Red Fork, which was clued at by the season 2 finale montage. The Red Fork is one of the major rivers of the Riverlands, and the montage sees Jason Lannister arriving to look over the rivers, seeing Harrenhal off in the distance.
The Lannister forces end up in a battle with the Riverlords at the Red Fork, resulting in Lord Jason’s death.
While Jason Lannister intends to march on Harrenhal for the Greens, he won’t make it that far. The Lannister forces end up in a battle with the Riverlords at the Red Fork, resulting in Lord Jason’s death. This is a battle that House of the Dragon could end up skimming over or only showing brief parts of. They’ve set up Jason Lannister’s army marching, but he’s the most prominent character at the battle, so it likely won’t take up more than a few minutes of an episode, similar to the Battle at the Burning Mill in season 2.
3The First Battle Of Tumbleton
Ulf & Hugh Betray The Blacks At Tumbleton
In House of the Dragon season 2, audiences are introduced to new characters, Hugh and Ulf, setting up some of the war’s pivotal events. Rhaenyra seems firmly in control for the time being with her excess dragonriders, but an important element that the series explored was the risk of Targaryens trusting anyone with dragons. Ulf has already proven to be a dodgy figure, and Hugh seems to have a strong code of morals that could conflict with characters like Rhaenyra or Daemon as the war progresses. Ultimately, the pair will betray her at the First Battle of Tumbleton.
Hugh’s wife mentioned the town of Tumbleton early in season 2, foreshadowing the possibility of her being part of the reason for his betrayal. In the battle, Hugh and Ulf ride out to meet the Hightower forces but ultimately swap sides and set the town on fire. It’s a terrible turning point that sees Rhaenyra’s experiment in “The Red Sowing” resulting in a failure, and it will be interesting to see how audiences react to Hugh and Ulf, given their differences from book to show. They could end up being even more hated than Criston Cole.
2The Second Battle Of Tumbleton
Addam Helps Avenge The Two Betrayers
Burning Tumbleton down once just wasn’t enough for the Dance of the Dragons, as forces return to the location for another major battle. In the second battle, Addam arrives on his dragon Seasmoke, accompanied by the Tully and Riverlands forces, to attack the Greens’ army. Rather than finding Hugh, Ulf, and Daeron all riding their dragons to meet them, Hugh and Daeron died before they could mount their dragons, and Ulf slept through the battle, according to Fire & Blood. In this instance, Addam ends up fighting their dragons, now riderless.
The House of the Dragon season 2 finale sets up Addam to be Rhaenyra’s most trusted dragonrider, and this remains true throughout the war. During the feast scene, he even suggests that Ulf is the cowardly one of the bunch, foreshadowing the split between them. Addam will heroically help the Blacks eliminate several dragons and Green riders, but he and Seasmoke are both killed in the process. This should be one of the major battles of season 4 and one of the show’s last major action set pieces overall.
1The Battle Above The God’s Eye
Daemon & Aemond’s Fateful Duel
Likely the most anticipated moment in House of the Dragon for many book readers is the duel between Daemon and Aemond Targaryen, both riding their dragons above the God’s Eye. It’s an incomparable cinematic moment in George R.R. Martin’s universe and is the epitome of what many think when considering The Dance of the Dragons. It’s two highly trained and capable dragonriding Targaryen warriors meeting for a one-on-one confrontation in an epic, fantastical location. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
Season 2 sets up the battle with two fairly blatant moments of foreshadowing. When Daemon first arrives at the God’s Eye, Alys Rivers tells him he’s going to die there. In the season 2 finale, Helaena tells Aemond that he’s going to die at the God’s Eye. Both statements are true, and House of the Dragon hasn’t shied away from foreshadowing their duel even more with several scenes where either Aemond or Daemon talks about the potential opportunity to fight the other. Aemond may have the upper hand with Vhagar, but Daemon won’t shy away from the challenge.
