House Of The Dragon season 2's release date has devastated fans

At the end of House of the Dragon, Westeros is in a pickle as there is a King and a Queen who both believe they have the legitimate claim to the throne. King Viserys named Rhaenyra, his only surviving child with Queen Aemma, to be the heir.

However, he still married Lady Alicent and had three children with her, one of them being Aegon. Rhaenyra's three children with Ser Laenor - Lucerys, Jaeherys and Joffrey - are actually the product of an affair with Ser Harwin Strong. She remarried after Laenor's "death" (talk, Rhaenyra!) and had three children with her paternal uncle Daemon.

Yes, you did read that right. Rhaenyra and Daemon's children are named Aegon, Viserys and Visenya, but their daughter dies shortly after being born.

King Viserys, delirious in death, thinks he's talking to Rhaenyra when he's visited by Alicent and confirms that Aegon I's prophecy will be fulfilled through Rhaenyra's descendants. Alicent then interprets this to be her husband's will to replace Rhaenyra and crown their son Aegon, setting the scene for the most horrific war of succession that the world will ever see.

Here's the trailer:

In short, everyone in Westeros would have a better time of it if Targaryens stopped naming their sons "Aegon." Those who have read the original novel, Fire & Blood, will know what's next for House of the Dragon and cannot wait for the destruction and devastation to be wrought. Sadly, fans will be waiting for a long, long, long time.

When you find out House of the Dragon is not returning until 2024 pic.twitter.com/2hRqnLmVqQ

— GameofThrones Quotes (@ASOIAFQuotesGOT) February 23, 2023

Speaking to Variety, HBO and HBO Max content CEO Casey Bloys said that there's still some work to be done on the second season of the show. "My philosophy is a good script is number one priority," explained Boys, clarifying that 2024 is a "good guess" for when the show is aiming to return to the small screen. "I am not doing it based on wanting to have one a year, two a year. I want to do it based on the scripts that we’re excited about."

He also added that it's another "good guess" that House of the Dragon will miss out on that year's Emmy season, which narrows down the window to the summer of 2024. I suppose this does offer an opportunity to read Fire & Blood if you haven't already.