House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan J Condal has confirmed that the younger versions of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower will not be a part of the stories they will be exploring for season 2. 

The show stars Milly Alcock as the younger version of Rhaenyra while Emily Carey plays the younger version of Rhaenyra’s friend-turned-rival Alicent Hightower. Owing to a time jump in the story, both the roles will now be played by Emma D’ Arcy and Olivia Cooke respectively. The time jump happened in the recently released sixth episode, which was released on Monday.

The series follows the Targaryen civil war, based on the Dance of the Dragons storyline in G R R Martin’s Fire and Blood book. The show takes place 190 years before the events of the Game of Thrones. It was recently announced that showrunner Miguel Sapochnik would exit the series following the first season, leaving Ryan J Condal as the sole showrunner.