‘House of the Dragon’ Showrunner Shares What To Expect For Season 2

Last night's (October 23) House of the Dragon episode ended with emotions running at an all-time high. The news of her father Viserys' (Paddy Considine) death and the crowning of Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and his son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) has finally reached Rhaenyra's ears. Now, as Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) moves to gain and maintain alliances to defend her succession to the Iron Throne, she must do so with yet another birth (her sixth child). After another very graphic birthing scene of the first season, Rhaenyra wastes no time in moving forward with plans even though she is struck with more death.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the season finale was highly anticipated by readers of author George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, where the young princes Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) met at Storm’s End, both seeking to obtain House Baratheon’s support for their respective immediate family's Iron Throne claims. As Lucerys leaves dragonback through an intense lightning storm after being rejected, Aemond chases him on the back of giant Vhagar, who eviscerated Lucerys and his dragon Arrax with a few chomps. Daemon (Matt Smith) shares the tragic news with Rhaenyra, who has the look of war in her eyes in the season's final scene.

Showrunner Ryan Condal revealed as much as he was allowed to for what to expect in the second season, which will begin production in early 2023 and is expected to be released in 2024. But before getting into what is to come in the future, Condal addressed the dark episode (episode 7) and scenes that many viewers complained about. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "The visual continuity of the show is certainly something that we will look at. That stuff is always so tricky because we’re doing [post-production] on millions of dollars worth of high-end equipment, almost as if we’re making a movie. It looked great in post and I looked great on my television. But when you release a Star Wars film, you’re releasing it in theaters. For TV, you’re releasing it onto a million different television screens and different setups and calibrations all over the planet. You’re also releasing it through different distributors who are going to distribute it in 4K or 1080p or 1080i or not that at all. So it’s hard to account for everybody’s televisions and their calibrations and sometimes the file can get compressed. So the show can look very different than the thing that we saw and approved and released."

"It’s our job to take all that into account," Condal admitted, adding, "The feedback was certainly heard. I get it. And we want the show to be a great viewing experience for everybody."

Season 2 will continue where season 1 left off, with House Valeryon divided as to who will rule, known as "the Dance of the Dragons." Condal told Variety that the show will expand more in Westeros, with "definitely many more new worlds to come, and new worlds that you haven’t necessarily seen in the original show, either."

With the trailer for House of the Dragon, get a closer look at the characters in the ten-episode HBO Original drama, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood series. Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the story of House Targaryen.

As we earlier reported, Wil Johnson will play Ser Vaemond Velaryon, younger brother to Coryls Velaryon (Sea Snake) and commander in the Velaryon navy. Children of the Sea Snake and Rhaenys Targaryen will be played by John Macmillan as Ser Laenor Velaryon, Savannah Steyn plays Lady Laena Velayron and Theo Nate as Ser Laenor Velaryon.

Paddy Considine is King Viserys Targaryen, the successor of King Jaehaerys Targaryen to sit upon the Iron Throne of Westeros. His firstborn, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), is a dragon rider, while his younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), is heir to the throne.

House of the Dragon will premiere on Sunday, August 21 on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.

See the characters below: