House of the Dragon is blazing ahead and setting its season 2 premiere for 2024.

HBO teased the next chapter in the ongoing Game of Thrones prequel saga, which chronicles the great Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, at an event at Warner Bros. Discovery’s New York City headquarters on Thursday. HBO head Casey Bloys also confirmed that season 2 will return summer 2024.

“They are done shooting and in post. We hope to have that early summer,” Bloys said, while press got an early look at the forthcoming season.

House of the Dragon follows the infamous Targaryen conflict, in which Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), the late king’s first-born daughter and chosen heir, is fighting for the Iron Throne against her usurper, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), Rhaenyra’s half-brother conceived by her step-mother and childhood best friend, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). After season 1’s cliffhanger finale, the Dance is now beginning in earnest.

House of the Dragon finished production on season 2 earlier this year with showrunner Ryan Condal at the helm despite the SAG-AFTRA strike. (The series is a production of the U.K.’s actor union Equity and not the Screen Actors Guild.) Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, and Abubakar Salim were previously announced as cast members.

Beale plays Ser Simon Strong, the Castellan of Harrenhal and great uncle to Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham); Fox plays Ser Gwayne Hightower, son of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and brother to Queen Alicent; Rankin plays Alys Rivers, a healer and resident of Harrenhal; and Salim plays Alyn of Hull, one of the most famous Velaryons in Westeros history.

Needham, Ifans, and Cooke are all returning for House of the Dragon season 2 alongside other season 1 veterans D’Arcy, Glynn-Carney, Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen), Eve Best (Princess Rhaenys Targaryen), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole), Harry Collett (Jace Velaryon), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen), Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen), Jefferson Hall (Jason Lannister), Phia Saban (Queen Helaena), and Ewan Mitchell (Prince Aemond).

HBO is also working on another Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which had previously stalled development due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. Bloys says HBO hopes to start filming that series as soon as the actors’ strike is over.

As for any other spinoffs in the works, Bloys said, “We always have got scripts in development,” but, he added, “I wouldn’t say there’s anything else in that world that is close to a green light.”

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