House of the Dragon is back and ballroom dancing with Season 2 — but despite an adored premiere, fans still have one lingering question.
Are you Team Green or Black? Do you not care? Regardless, fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as House of the Dragon Season 2 is in full swing. Warning: some Season 2 spoilers ahead.
Even with one episode down, the series has already made some substantial changes from the source material, including a key difference in the Blood and Cheese storyline. However, another shock came completely left field, leaving fans outraged as one of the duo kicked their dog on the way to finding Aemond Targaryen.
In fact, many are so outraged that it almost doesn’t matter that a major character has been killed off in the process. As one fan posted on Reddit, “Great season premiere but… is the dog safe? Is he alright?
“I just told myself that it was a stunt dog. A highly paid and well-trained good boy who knows how to roll out of a gutkick. That or it was fake,” a second agreed.
A third added: “Gonna need a statement from HBO that the dog was not harmed in the making of this episode.”
So far, it’s unclear how the scene was filmed, but thanks to regulations, House of the Dragon viewers can rest assured that no foul play occurred in the Season 2 scene.
Due to animal welfare laws — and additional work by charities including PETA and Freedom for Animals — many territories will not allow a TV show to be aired if it contains any scenes filmed in a “cruel” way.
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Given that House of the Dragon Season 2 is one of the most-anticipated TV shows of the year, they wouldn’t risk ruining things in their season premiere regardless. With this in mind, fans can relax — the real-life dog will be okay.
The dog-kicking shock was just a springboard for more Blood and Cheese mayhem to come, with the characters deciding to fulfill the “a son for a son” prophecy in a different way — decapitating infant Jaehaerys in front of Helaena.
“That upset me more than anything else in the episode. My priorities are all wrong. Or are they right?” another fan continued.
A fifth weighed in: “The second I saw a dog I was like ok… they’re gonna make this even more f**ked up.”
“The way I gasped at the kick, and then stared dead-eyed as a child was seemingly beheaded,” another agreed.
House of the Dragon Season 2 continues on HBO, returning for Episode 2 on June 22.
Make sure you check out our breakdown of the Targaryen kings and guide to the wildest House of the Dragon fan fiction online. You can also find other new TV shows streaming this month.