House Of The Dragon Season 2 Secretly Reveals A 10,000-Year-Old Rivalry Way Bigger Than Rhaenyra vs. Alicent

House of the Dragon season 2 will deepen the conflict between Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen, but there’s an even bigger rivalry, dating back thousands of years, that will quietly play out on screen as well. The build-up to House of the Dragon season 2 is very much centered around the greens (those loyal to King Aegon II Targaryen) and the blacks (those who support Queen Rhaenyra). Almost every house will have to pick a side, and even viewers are being encouraged to do the same.

The Dance of the Dragons may be the Targaryen civil war, but the divisions in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros will run much deeper. New allegiances will be forged, existing ones broken, and even brothers pitted against one another. It will also fully revive one of the oldest rivalries in Westeros: the Brackens vs. the Blackwoods. These are two old houses located on opposite sides of the Trident’s Red Fork; both are loyal to House Tully, but fiercely opposed against one another.

House Of The Dragon Season 2 Fully Introduces Blackwoods vs. Brackens

The feuding Riverlands houses were briefly seen in season 1.

The Blackwood and Bracken rivalry was briefly glimpsed in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea,” when members of each house attempted to win Princess Rhaenyra’s favor. Jerrel Bracken mocked Willem Blackwood, resulting in a duel that ended when the latter killed the former. That, however, could have been seen as a quarrel between youngsters that got out of hand, but the House of the Dragon season 2 trailer shows how much things have escalated.

One shot in the trailer sees a member of House Bracken, wearing the red stallion on a gold background, facing off against what looks like multiple members of House Blackwood (there’s no clear sigil, but the color scheme matches, and it makes by far the most sense for them to be opposing a Bracken). This makes sense based on the Dance of the Dragons, where the two houses – unsurprisingly – found themselves on different sides. The Blackwoods supported Rhaenyra, while the Brackens backed Aegon.

It’s unclear exactly who the characters in the trailer are, but there are accounts of Blackwood vs. Bracken fights during the Dance from Fire & Blood. Samwell Blackwood (who in the show was replaced by Willem) was killed by Amos Bracken (seemingly replaced by Jerrel) in combat; Amos was later killed by Samwell’s sister, Alysanne, an archer. The Blackwoods then participated in several other battles throughout the civil war, and it seems like they will be followed at least to some degree in House of the Dragon.

Game Of Thrones’ Blackwoods vs. Brackens Rivalry Goes Back Around 10,000 Years

The feud started in Westeros’ Age of Heroes.

The Blackwoods and Brackens’ rivalry will be on display in House of the Dragon season 2, but it actually dates all the way back to the Age of Heroes, around 10,000 years before the Dance of the Dragons. Both sides claim to have been kings at the time, casting aspersions upon the other house and their goals. With disputes over titles, land, and power, it’s a feud that has never truly been resolved, with George R.R. Martin writing in The World of Ice and Fire:

“The feud of the Blackwoods and the Brackens is infamous, and rightly so, for it stretches back thousands of years to before the coming of the Andals. The origins of it are contested and shrouded in legend. The Blackwoods say they were kings and the Brackens little more than petty lords set on betraying and desposing them, while the Brackens say much the same about the Blackwoods.

“That they were both royal houses on the Trident seems true enough, and none can doubt that their enmity sprang from some cause, so entrenched that it has become legendary. Powerful as they were, they have maintained their feud despite the many kings who have attempted to make a peace between them. Even the Old King, Jaehaerys the Conciliator, failed in his attempt to halt this ceaseless war, for the peace he forged did not long outlast the end of his reign.”

The Brackens and Blackwoods did ally together against the coming of the Andals, in the Battle of Bitter River, but it was a fight they lost. Since then, there have been times when there had seemed to be peace, including numerous marriages. Indeed, after Aegon the Conqueror gave the Riverlands to House Tully – in part because these two houses had weakened themselves with yet another war fought between them – his sister-wife, Queen Visenya, personally arranged a double-wedding between members of the houses, but to no avail. In A Dance with Dragons, Lord Hoster Blackwood tells Jaime Lannister:

“We’ve had a hundred peaces with the Brackens, many sealed with marriages. There’s Blackwood blood in every Bracken, and Bracken blood in every Blackwood. The Old King’s Peace lasted half a century. But then some fresh quarrel broke out, and the old wounds opened and began to bleed again. That’s how it always happens, my father says. So long as men remember the wrongs done to their forebears, no peace will ever last. So we go on century after century, with us hating the Brackens and them hating us. My father says there will never be an end to it.”

The Blackwoods’ Connection To House Stark In House Of The Dragon

Lord Cregan Stark has an important story involving the house.

Aside from supporting Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Blackwoods will have another big connection to one of Game of Thrones‘ most important families coming in House of the Dragon‘s future: the Starks of Winterfell. Lord Cregan Stark will be introduced in House of the Dragon season 2, and he will, eventually, marry Alysanne Blackwood (known as Black Aly). That story won’t happen until much later, likely season 4 of the show (assuming it happens), when the Dance of the Dragons is at its end.

Cregan Stark arrives in King’s Landing at the end of the war and after the death of King Aegon II Targaryen, and begins cleaning up the mess left behind, briefly serving as Hand of the King to Aegon III Targaryen. Cregan looks to punish not only those loyal to the greens, but also those involved in Aegon II’s death, since he was poisoned and those who did it had essentially committed treason. That included Corlys Velaryon, but Black Aly persuaded Cregan to pardon him, in exchange for which he requested her hand in marriage.

Alysanne knew that the realm would be plunged into further chaos if Corlys was executed, with his son Alyn (a legitimized bastard) likely to seek vengeance and possessing an unrivaled fleet, which is why she was willing to marry Cregan. Plus, marrying into one of the Great Houses, and such a well-respected Lord as Cregan Stark, wasn’t a bad match either. Black Aly and Cregan had four daughters together, though little is known about her later years or their children.

What Happens To The Blackwoods & The Brackens In Game Of Thrones

There’s one family member who is very important.

The Blackwoods and Brackens are, for the most part, very minor players in Game of Thrones. They have few appearances and mentions: both have banners seen at the Tourney of the Hand in season 1; in season 5, it’s mentioned that Lollys Stokeworth is to be Ser Wyllis Bracken; in season 6, it is mentioned that the Blackwoods had risen against the Freys.

Technically, the Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones is a Blackwood too. The man who became the Three-Eyed Raven is all but confirmed to have been Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven, the bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and Lady Melissa Blackwood. The Blackwoods in House of the Dragon season 2 may not rise to such an important position, but they will have a small yet vital role to play in the wars to come alongside their old rivals, the Brackens.