War comes to Westeros in new House of the Dragon trailer: 'Neither of us may win'

War, like winter before it, is coming. 

HBO released a new look at season 2 of House of the Dragon, the first full trailer following its split Green vs. Black trailers shared in March. If there was any doubt, the new trailer asserts that the Dance of the Dragons — the Targaryen civil war — is at hand.

The new season sees Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her Black Council prepared to take power from the dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her son, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), who is unequivocally ready for revenge against the sect that opposes his rule.

A pivotal war in the history of Westeros, based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, set 200 years before Game of Thrones, will begin after season 1 set the table for the inevitable conflict.

Rhaenyra was named heir to the Iron Throne despite worries that a queen would never be accepted, even after she wed the son of Lord Corlys Valaryon (Steve Toussaint), Ser Laenor (Theo Nate). With those fears in the background, Alicent, along with her father and former hand of the king, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), put the young son of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) on the throne behind Rhaenyra's back in the season 1 finale.  

Despite the fire, blood, and dragons throughout the trailer, Otto is confident in Aegon's chances, asserting that the "great houses will come to our side." Among those great houses will be the emergence of the Starks, including the arrival of Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor), ancestor of Game of Thrones' Ned Stark (Sean Bean).

The trailer teases the potential for big battles on the scale of Game of Thrones' latter seasons, with Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) conspiring with Rhaenyra and the Valaryons pledging their ships to her cause alongside shots of armies amassing.

Though, it certainly foreshadows the potential for a rift between Rhaenyra and the power-hungry Daemon. As Rhaenyra says at the end of the trailer, "War is coming, and neither of us may win."

However, Aegon and Rhaenyra may not be the realm's only choices. "Some people think it's Rhaenyra, some people think it's Aegon, and then there are other people within who think, 'Why should it be one of the two of them? Maybe it should be somebody else. Maybe it should be me!'" House of the Dragon showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly in March. "The fun of this Greek tragedy is seeing, when you introduce a power vacuum to a world like this, how all of these individuals react."

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The second season of House of the Dragon debuts Sunday, June 16 on HBO and Max. Watch the new trailer above.