The world of Westeros is coming again to HBO with Home of the Dragon Season 2 within the 2024 TV schedule, to lastly keep on from the cliffhanger of Rhaenyra studying of her son’s dying and looking out fairly prepared for some hearth and blood in opposition to the Hightower faction throughout the Targaryen household tree. A pair of trailers was launched, asking followers to decide on sides between the Blacks vs. the Greens months earlier than Season 2 premieres.
The trailers didn’t actually clarify the names of Blacks vs. Greens, nor had been these names established within the first season of the present. The names are well-known to readers of George R.R. Martin’s historical past books concerning the Seven Kingdoms, together with Hearth & Blood, which was written in-universe by Archmaester Gyldayn of the Citadel of Oldtown concerning the Targaryens.
So, because the battle between the Blacks – a.okay.a. Rhaenyra’s facet – and the Greens – a.okay.a. Aegon II’s facet, supported by the Hightowers – approaches this summer season, let’s have a look at what Martin’s Hearth & Blood tells us concerning the factions’ names.
Warning: spoilers forward for Hearth & Blood by the “A Query of Succession” chapter about Viserys I’s reign.
George R.R. Martin’s Context For The Blacks Vs. The Greens
Word: AC refers to years since Aegon’s Conquest.
Earlier than we get into the inciting incident of the 2 sides turning into often known as the Blacks and the Greens, we’ve got to have a look at some context. In Hearth & Blood, Alicent Hightower and Princess Rhaenyra had been solely about ten years aside, and Rhaenyra was solely 9 years outdated when Alicent married King Viserys in 106 AC. On the wedding ceremony, in line with George R.R. Martin’s fictional historical past guide, “Princess Rhaenyra poured for her stepmother on the fest, and Queen Alicent kissed her and named her ‘daughter.’’’
The goodwill didn’t final, nonetheless, as Rhaenyra remained Viserys’ inheritor even after the births of Alicent’s sons Aegon and Aemond, and Ser Otto Hightower was dismissed as Hand of the King in 109 AC when the bickering over the succession grew to become an excessive amount of. That led to this passage:
Even after Ser Otto had returned to Oldtown, a ‘queen’s get together’ nonetheless existed at court docket; a bunch of highly effective lords pleasant to Queen Alicent and supportive of the rights of her sons. Towards them was pitted the ‘get together of the princess.’ King Viserys cherished each his spouse and daughter, and hated battle and rivalry. He strove all his days to maintain the peace between his girls, and to please each with items and gold and honors. As long as he lived and dominated and saved the steadiness as earlier than, and peace prevailed all through the realm… although there have been some, sharp-eyed, who noticed the dragons of 1 get together snapping and spitting flame on the dragons of the opposite get together each time they chanced to move close to one another.
So, simply as tailored in Home of the Dragon, rigidity grew the longer that Viserys went with out altering the succession to make Aegon his inheritor over Rhaenyra, and Viserys dismissed Otto for a time. Now, with context established, the large adjustments – aside from the ages of the characters, that’s – from guide to point out come from when the Blacks and the Greens acquired their titles in 111 AC.
What Hearth & Blood Tells Us About The Blacks Vs. The Greens
Whereas the Targaryen civil warfare was arguably inevitable from the second that Viserys refused to alter the succession, it was the tourney of 111 AC that basically set the stage for catastrophe. Alicent and Viserys had been married for 5 years on the time, with Rhaenyra on the age of 14 and Alicent at round 24. Daemon had been exiled, three of Viserys’ 4 youngsters with Alicent had been born (together with two sons), and Rhaenyra remained first within the king’s chosen line of succession. That led to this passage in Hearth & Blood:
In 111 AC, an excellent tourney was held at King’s Touchdown on the fifth anniversary of the king’s marriage to Queen Alicent. On the opening feast, the queen wore a inexperienced robe, while the princess dressed dramatically in Targaryen crimson and black. Word was taken, and thereafter it grew to become the customized to confer with ‘greens’ and ‘blacks’ when speaking of the queen’s get together and the get together of the princess, respectively. Within the tourney itself, the blacks had the significantly better of it…
Hearth & Blood would go on to repeatedly confer with the events as “greens” or “blacks” from that time ahead, and the next chapter is definitely titled “The Blacks and the Greens.” Within the guide, Rhaenyra was the one who stole Alicent’s thunder at an occasion in honor of her marriage. To distinction, the green-gowned Alicent stole Rhaenyra’s thunder within the present at an occasion honoring Rhaenyra’s meant marriage to Laenor, in a scene by which actress Milly Alcock wasn’t even carrying black as Rhaenyra.
The timeline adjustments within the present additionally meant that the inexperienced costume scene happened after Rhaenyra’s night time out with Daemon and night time in with Ser Criston Cole, which gave Alicent a private motive to really feel betrayed by Rhaenyra. In Home of the Dragon, the 2 are additionally roughly the identical age. Nonetheless, it was a really cool scene of Alicent actually making an assertive play on this present’s recreation of thrones, and a robust second for Emily Carey in her final episode earlier than the time bounce recast of her character.
As a reader who already feels just like the present is making the Greens look higher than they did within the guide, although, I nonetheless want Rhaenyra had been in a black and crimson costume when Alicent debuted her attractive inexperienced robe. However the clothes of the queen and princess giving names to their factions in Hearth & Blood wasn’t the one game-changer on the tourney of 111 AC.
What Hearth & Blood Tells Us About Daemon And The Tourney Of 111 AC
Daemon was nonetheless in exile to start out the yr 111 AC, however made a triumphant return with out invitation, identical to he did in Hearth & Blood. His return occurred with much more spectacle within the guide than it did within the present. In the identical chapter that defined the names for the greens and the blacks, George R.R. Martin wrote:
But one was there who wore neither inexperienced nor black, however relatively gold and silver. Prince Daemon had ultimately returned to court docket. Sporting a crown and styling himself King of the Slender Sea, he appeared unannounced within the skies above King’s Touchdown on his dragon, circling thrice above the tourney grounds… however when ultimately he got here to earth, he knelt earlier than his brother and provided up his crown as a token of his love and fealty. Viserys returned the crown and kissed Daemon on each cheeks, welcoming him residence, and the lords and commons despatched up a thunderous cheer because the sons of the Spring Worth had been reconciled. Amongst these cheering the loudest was Princess Rhaenyra, who was thrilled on the return of her favourite uncle and begged him to remain some time.
The particulars of Daemon’s return in Home of the Dragon had been fairly just like his return in Hearth & Blood, however the setting was very totally different and I believe essential. Within the supply materials, Daemon got here again triumphantly driving Caraxes down into the tourney, stealing everyone’s thunder and thrilling the smallfolk who cherished him. It was a reminder of why many individuals considered him as a hero, when it wouldn’t be an excessive amount of longer earlier than he would make some very villainous strikes.
And the change for the present issues. The Rogue Prince having allies and supporters inside King’s Touchdown is a part of what makes him so harmful as Rhaenyra’s prince consort in Hearth & Blood, together with one significantly grotesque occasion that I believe will swing some viewers from Crew Black to Crew Inexperienced. The present did nod to individuals within the metropolis nonetheless loving the prince post-time bounce, when one in every of Otto’s first strikes following Viserys’ dying within the game-changing ninth episode was to eliminate the Metropolis Watch captains nonetheless loyal to Daemon.
This explicit change isn’t as damaging to Daemon because the HBO sequence exhibiting Daemon killing his first spouse when that positively wasn’t the case within the guide, however on the tourney of 111 AC, Daemon was beloved of the smallfolk and never but a part of the scheming blacks or the greens. In fact, I did benefit from the sheer nerve of TV Daemon strolling into Rhaenyra’s wedding ceremony feast after being exiled (once more) after which critically elevating Viserys’ blood stress by drawing her apart on the dance flooring. There’s no household in both Recreation of Thrones or Home of the Dragon fairly as messy because the Targaryens, even accounting for the Lannisters by GOT.
Thankfully, the messy, messy Targaryens will probably be again later this yr, which is nice information even when I’m bummed that Home of the Dragon didn’t extra faithfully adapt the scene that defined the “Black” and “Inexperienced” names. Season 2 premieres on Sunday, June 16 on HBO. It’s going to even be out there streaming by way of a Max subscription, which you may also use to rewatch Season 1 now.
