House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke Teases Alicent’s ‘Really Sad’ Season 2 Reunion With Brother Gwayne

Sounds like the Hightowers won’t be hanging “Welcome home Gwayne” banners when Otto’s son shows up in House of the Dragon Season 2.

Though the character was seen briefly in the series premiere — he’s one of the helmeted knights Daemon unhorses during the joust — he’ll be a real player in the HBO drama’s upcoming sophomore run.

More from TVLine

• House of the Dragon Cast Reveals Season 2 Fears: What's Got Aegon & Co. Quaking in Their Boots? - Watch

• Hunter Biden Found Guilty in Gun Case, Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison

• Euphoria 'Core Cast' Confirmed to Return for Season 3 - Plus, How Big Will the Time Jump Be?

This time around, Ser Gwayne will be played by Freddie Fox (Slow Horses, The Great), “who was gorgeous to work with,” Olivia Cooke tells TVLine in the video above. Unfortunately, though, the family reunion doesn’t sound like it will be a happy one.

“It’s really sad,” Cooke says of the connection between the queen regent and her brother. “It’s Alicent really hoping for some connection within a family, and this is a brother that she’s estranged from because they didn’t grow up together.”

House of the Dragon‘s Greens Vs. Blacks: Which Faction Has the Edge? Our Handy Head-to-Head Breakdown

View List

Translation: While Alicent was shaped (warped?) by the political and social expectations of being the Hand of the King’s daughter, Gwayne had a very different youth.

“He’s so well-rounded,” she continues, “because he didn’t grow up in the environment of King’s Landing and wasn’t under the gaze of his father.”

Fox is one of many new cast additions for Season 2, which also will see the introduction of Gayle Rankin (GLOW) as Alys Rivers, Abubakar Salim (Raised by Wolves) as Alyn of Hull and Simon Russell Beale (Penny Dreadful) as Ser Simon Strong.

House of the Dragon will return for Season 2 on Sunday, June 16, at 9/8c on HBO.

Press PLAY on the video at the top of the post, then hit the comments with your thoughts and predictions for the new season.

Best of TVLine

• 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Snowpiercer, Severance, Holey Moley, Rings of Power, Pachinko and Others

• Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres

• Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Showtime Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?)

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter