The second season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered in the United States on HBO on April 1, 2012, and concluded on June 3, 2012.

The season mostly covers the events of A Clash of Kings, the second novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.

The season mainly centers around the War of the Five Kings, fought among the leaders of Westerosi factions who are either staking a claim to the Iron Throne, or seeking independence from it.

Meanwhile, in Essos, with three newborn dragons by her side, Daenerys Targaryen attempts to find allies and resources to help her fulfill her perceived destiny to win the Iron Throne.

Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast, including Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley and Emilia Clarke.

The season introduced a number of new cast members, including Stephen Dillane, Natalie Dormer, Carice van Houten and Liam Cunningham.

[18] Scattered around two fictional continents characters include, by order of importance: Emerging as the fourth claimant to the throne is the estranged brother of the late king Robert, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane).

Tom Wlaschiha is cast as Jaqen H'ghar, a mysterious prisoner who develops a murderous relationship with young Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).

[26] Natalie Dormer, best known for her portrayal as seductive Anne Boleyn in Showtime's The Tudors, was cast in a similar role as Margaery Tyrell, a noblewoman and the wife of the third claimant to the throne, Renly Baratheon.

[27] Gwendoline Christie played, to much praise, Brienne of Tarth, a female warrior who joins Renly Baratheon's guard, but later becomes a follower of Catelyn Stark.

In addition to Talisa, Michael McElhatton joins the cast in the role of Roose Bolton, an important character in Robb Stark's storyline.

To be able to portray Podrick as awkward, shy and weak, Portman, previously a sportsman, stopped his fitness regimen and gained some weight to appear more endearing.

Finally, Edward Dogliani appeared briefly as the "Lord of Bones" (or "Rattleshirt" in the novels), a Wildling leader and Oliver Ford Davies as Stannis's maester Cressen.

[41] Roy Dotrice, a friend of George R. R. Martin, known for reading the audio versions of the novels and having previously rejected a role for health reasons, appears this season as Pyromancer Hallyne, an elderly alchemist at King's Landing.

[45][46][47] New shooting locations in Northern Ireland include The Linen Mill Film & Television Studios in Banbridge, Ballintoy Harbour[48] and Downhill Strand.

The second issue of Entertainment Weekly in March 2012 had four alternative covers dedicated to in-costume photographs of Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Kit Harington (Jon Snow) or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey (Jaime and Cersei Lannister).

Sunday is Coming, a two-minute short film for Funny or Die, satirized viewers' excitement about the return of Game of Thrones.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Game of Thrones follows up a strong debut with an even better second season, combining elegant storytelling and vivid characters to create a rich fantasy world.

"[60] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the season a positive review and stated, "Thrones creates such a rich visual feast - replete with plenty of gratuitous nudity and blood-letting - as to almost obscure its fundamental storytelling pleasures, which are as much a mob drama as anything else, having traded bullets for broadswords.

"[62] Nancy deWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal said that "each week the story unfolds like a tapestry, its intricate stitches slowly creating not just a scene but a whole world.

"[64] Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker gave the season a positive review and stated, "Game of Thrones is the latest entry in television's most esteemed category: the sophisticated cable drama about a patriarchal subculture.

"[65] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture positively spoke about the season that "what's onscreen is so consistently remarkable, and so much smarter than it needed to be in order to satisfy viewers who are mainly looking for sex, violence, and intrigue, that the show's presence feels like a kind of miracle.

"[71] Andy Greenwald of Grantland praised its ambition and scope,[72] while James Poniewozik of Time found the premiere episode to be "hustling off steadily and confidently.

[112] The DVD set contains a 30-minute feature covering the production of the episode "Blackwater", actor interviews, character profiles, twelve audio commentaries by cast and crew, and a discussion about Westerosi religions by the showrunners and George R. R. Martin.

The Blu-ray set additionally contains a feature about the "War of the Five Kings" that breaks out in season two, as well as 19 animated histories of the mythology of Westeros and Essos.