The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season one.
Once considered the pinnacle of prestige fantasy TV, the final season of Game of Thrones disappointed a lot of long-standing fans. But House of the Dragon, HBO's prequel spin-off, won back much of the respect its predecessor had lost. The first season was a marked improvement on those last Thrones episodes, coming closer to the halcyon days than many had expected.
Viewership figures blew HBO records out of the water, the Dragon premiere being the most watched all-time from the network. Now comes a second season — and it's looking like it'll arrive in June this year.
There have been some shake-ups. For example Thrones mainstay Miguel Sapochnik, and co-showrunner on the premiere season of Dragon, stepped down for season two.
“Working within the Thrones universe for the past few years has been an honour and a privilege,” he said in a statement. “Of course, I wish [House of the Dragon co-creator Ryan Condal] and his team success and all the best with season two and beyond.”
While Sapochnik's departure was described as amicable when announced in August 2022, Matthew Belloni of Puck News reported that the ex-showrunner “bailed after a protracted standoff over his wife and her involvement in the show.” His partner in question, Alexis Raben, was a credited producer on season one and appeared in four episodes as Talya, a lady-in-waiting to Olivia Cooke's Alicent.
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The blowup happened after HBO politely declined to keep Raben on as a producer for season two according to the report, citing her inexperience (House of the Dragon season one is Raben's only producing credit), according to “two sources close to the show”. (Puck says that HBO declined to comment.) The report further alleges that the network even brought in a mediator to “try to de-escalate the situation,” but to no avail, with Sapochnik eventually deciding to bail on the show.
Here's everything else we know about House of the Dragon season two.
Does House of the Dragon season 2 have a release date?
Yes! Well, sort of. There's been no official announcement, but an executive for Warner Bros. Discovery — the parent company of HBO, who airs House of the Dragon in the U.S. — revealed at an industry conference that the second season is expected to release at some point in June. This is the most we've heard about the release window for House of the Dragon season two so far — even if he stopped short of specifying an exact date.
It tallies up with earlier estimates provided by HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery heads, with HBO's Casey Bloys suggesting last year that the series would be launched in “early summer,” and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav saying that they show would target “next quarter” on the company's Q4 earnings call in February.
Get fired up, Thrones fans — we haven't got long to go.
What will happen in House of the Dragon season 2?
First, let's rewind a mo for a refresher on season 1: After a couple of episodes wherein Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) did everything she could to avoid civil war with her father's wife and ex-bestie, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), her hand has been forced by the death of her son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) in the jaws of Aemond's dragon, Vhagar. Sure it might have been a mistake, but it's a major point of no return, and war will result.
What else was there? A whole lot of death and destruction. Bear in mind that the titular dragons are like the fantastical version of nuclear weapons, per Paddy Considine's analogy. As it stands, each side of the war has around an equal number of the beasts, but even one a piece is enough to destroy entire cities and encampments (see: the Game of Thrones finale) many times over. It seems as though Rhaenyra's plan is to blockade King's Landing from the sea with the Velaryon fleet, while maintaining an aerial advantage in the skies — perhaps easier said than done when the other side can assure mutual destruction.
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Elsewhere, she'll need to secure the backing of Houses Tully, Baratheon and Stark, the latter of which Thrones fans will best know as the family of Eddard, Bran, Arya and Co in Winterfell. We've already been down to Storm's End — Lucerys was chomped resultingly — but will this mean that the series' action will expand out of the confines of the Red Keep, Dragonstone and Driftmark?
“The show definitely has to expand its scope in the second season,” Condal told Variety. “I think those will continue to be the home bases for the show. But a war is coming that requires allegiances from different kingdoms and armies all over the map of Westeros. I don't think we're going to get quite as vast as the original Game of Thrones did in its final analysis,” he continued, teasing “new worlds” not seen in the original Thrones, too. “Rest assured, plenty of scope to come.”
Condal has also reassured us that season two will slow down the pace set by season one. A lot of groundwork had to be laid in that first season, 20 years of it, actually. During a panel, Condal said he's excited to get back to the familiar narrative structure of Game of Thrones. “I’m excited to pick up where we left off. Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones,” he said, adding context on the stakes he sees the show working with, "We’ve always talked about this particular tale, George [R.R. Martin] has too, of being a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. This series is very much about a house tearing itself apart from within. Now that all those pieces have been set on the board, I’m really excited to tell the next chapter, to see what happens now that Viserys is gone and no longer keeping a lid on things."
Elsewhere, House of the Dragon writer and producer Sara Hess teased one of George R. R. Martin's most blood-curdling Westeros plots for season two. Following the death of Lucerys, Daemon promises “an eye for an eye, a son for a son.” This leads to ‘Blood and Cheese,’ a plotline so gruesome as to inspire chills of horror in any well-read Martin fan.
Without spoiling anything, the revenge plot is considered dark even by Martin's bleaker-than-bleak standards. Speaking to Variety, Hess indicated that the storyline would make it into the season two script: “We are currently writing the finale,” she said. “I don't think you will be disappointed.”
How long will season 2 of House of the Dragon be?
House of the Dragon's debut first season rounded off with a neat 10-episode arc, but it looks like its next outing will be slightly shorter. According to Deadline, season 2 will only have eight episodes, keeping in line with the current trend to make shows more of a morsel than a meal.
It's also reported the show was supposed to initially run for 10 episodes again, but producers decided to condense it leading to some script rewrites. Seemingly, the move is mostly to do with setting the roadmap ahead for the show's third season which, although almost certainly green-lit, hasn't committed to moving ahead with it just yet. That's not a massive surprise, however, as shows tend to work on a season-to-season basis, which is what House of the Dragon show-runners are trying to preempt. By potentially pushing major story arcs from the backend of season 2 to the beginning of season 3, it's ensuring its viability as appointment TV. Any chance of them avoiding the late Game of Thrones episode bloat sounds like smart planning.
Who will be in the House of the Dragon season 2 cast?
It's a good question. Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra seems a dead cert for season two, as does Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower. You'd expect the lion's share of the ensemble not beheaded at the jawline or, indeed, perished of old age to come back for the follow-up. With Condal's announcement that "all [our] favourite characters" would be back, we can maybe breathe a slight sigh of relief. Or, at least as much a sigh of relief as any Game of Thrones prequel can offer.
There was a rumour or two swirling around on Twitter that Elizabeth Olsen and Henry Cavill would pop up in the series, but the former poured cold water on it in an interview with Variety in October. “No, I haven't seen that rumour! But I'm up to date on House of the Dragon. […] How random. Why him? Why me? I can't even think of how random that is. I don't know that guy, either!"
Winterfell leader Cregan Stark plays a “pretty big role” in the civil war at the heart of House of the Dragon moving forward, per Variety. Dragon showrunner Condal did not comment on who they were eyeing up, but did confirm that they'll pick someone to fill Cregan's boots “at some point,” implying that we'll be trekking up to the North in the near future.
In the meantime, you can stream the first season of House of the Dragon on NOW.
