House Of The Dragon: Looking At The Internet’s Reaction To The New Trailers

Heralding the new season of House of the Dragon, HBO released two trailers on March 22nd to tease the second instalment of the Game of Thrones spin-off show. We also have a confirmed date: nearly two years after the first episode aired, House of the Dragon will return on June 16th this year.

In the true spirit of George R.R. Martin’s perpetually war-torn Westeros, the trailers are geared to make fans pick a side of the coming fight. While I can see the intention, I’m not sure the responses were as evenly divided as HBO might have hoped. But, without picking favourites, let’s talk about both teams. 

In terms of the trailers, the Black trailer was definitely more dramatic, with more dragons, more fighting and upcoming familiar locations like The Wall. In contrast, the Green trailer remained mostly localised to King’s Landing. For fans who enjoyed watching Daenerys and Jon Snow travel the northern regions of Westeros to gain supporters, House of the Dragon season 2 promises a similar crusade for Rhaenyra, Daemon and her surviving children. But if you prefer the antics of the Lannisters, it seems Alicent and her son, King Aegon, will be more defensive, keeping close to the capital, much like Cersi, Joffrey, and Tommen did throughout Game of Thrones.

Turning to the responses on social media, the majority seems to be in landslide favour of Team Black. On the Reddit thread r/HouseOfTheDragon, a post by National-Wolverine74, “I wanna know why y’all are Team Blacks or Team Greens…” sees a large number of comments, with the majority siding in favour of Team Black.

The few comments choosing Team Green mostly base their decision on the Targaryen family as a whole, with one post by LomgNapOverlap stating, “Team Green because Rhaenyra’s succession would have led to the end of the Targaryen dynasty as her sons were bastards”. Obviously, those who have read the books or remember the history of the Targaryen line before Daeneyrs will know who wins the war and keeps their place on the Iron Throne, which was another factor debated heavily in the House Of The Dragon forum. 

Meanwhile, we see the battle lines drawn on Instagram and X (previously Twitter). The official House Of The Dragon Instagram page posted and shared stories in favour of both teams, which are still available to view in their dedicated highlight reels. The most notable post on the Team Black reel has to be a post stating, “Beyonce is Team Black”, which has generated a large response of posts and memes from fans siding with Team Black – if we’re siding with any queen, it has to be Queen Bee. These reels also feature reposts of accounts like Streamonmax and footage from American basketball in favour of both sides. 

In terms of responses on X, there is once again a resounding favour for Team Black. One post by @LostGirljm12 said: “[…] this is supposed to be house of the dragon but all I see is team black, is there anyone on team green, not that I would be or admit if I was I’d be embarrassed too to take the side of a traitor.” Which says it all, really. 

As is naturally a big part of popular fandoms, moral or historical rules don’t always apply when it comes to fans picking sides. Since House of the Dragon season 1 aired, viewers have been choosing their favourite characters. So, despite Rhaenyra being the main character, many fans are vocal in picking a side based on their preferred characters.

You may ask which character is swaying followers to a particular team. Well, the answer won’t be totally shocking for a lot of fans. The morally grey, charming, and good-looking antihero has always done well at gaining fans’ love, regardless of their mild-to-moderate evil tendencies. For example, characters like Loki and Bucky from Marvel, Tate Langdon from American Horror Story, Moriarty in Sherlock, Jamie Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. 

Ultimately, the internet loves a bad boy (or person), so it isn’t entirely shocking that the hot, blonde, megalomaniac Daemon Targaryen, whom fans no doubt love for Matt Smith’s skill and past role as the Eleventh Doctor, has viewers siding with Rhaenyra purely for Daemon’s role in Team Black. Posts on the Reddit forum include “I go wherever Daemon goes” from xX_LoRd_Of_DeAtH_Xx and “TeamDaemon, that’s the only right choice” from VieiraDTA, which seem to be popular opinions among a large fraction of fans. 

Technically speaking, it should come down to an argument similar to that which we saw in the original Game of Thrones series: are you on the side of the ‘law’, in which the next in line for succession should be the nearest male relative (in this case, the son)? Or are you on the rebels’ side, the usurpers staking a claim to the throne? Aside from the viewer’s personal character favourites, celebrity alliances and the graphic effects in the trailers, is all this should come down to.

Do you think Rhaenyra is the rightful queen, or must the heir be the firstborn son? Obviously, it isn’t that simple for fans, who are ultimately just excited for what is shaping up to be a dramatic, action-packed season.