House of the Dragon
After House of Dragon’s successful first season enthralled audiences, viewers have been eagerly awaiting its second installment. Filming for season two is scheduled to commence this summer despite WGA Writers’ Strike concerns.
HBO and its streaming service, formerly called HBO Max, will air weekly episodes. In season two, viewers will explore more deeply the history of House Targaryen as told in Martin’s Fire & Blood novella.
| Season | Release Date | Filming Schedule | Episode Count | Key Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 2 | Summer 2024 | April to Fall 2023 | 8 episodes | Filming despite strikes; deeper exploration of Targaryen history. |
| Season 3 | N/A | April to Fall 2023 | N/A | Filming ongoing with additional VFX work; Sapochnik exits. |
| Season 4 | N/A | April to September 2023 | 10 episodes | Successful debut; focus on Targaryen vs. Lannister. |
| Season 5 | N/A | Spring 2024 | N/A | Expected return of major players; filming locations in Europe. |
House of Dragon will return for season 2, despite the WGA and SAG strikes causing many productions to cease production. Filming began on April 11 and will wrap between October and September.
House of Dragon premiered August 21, 2022 to record-breaking viewer numbers. Set 200 years before Game of Thrones events take place, House of Dragon follows Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Emma D’Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). It stars both actors.
Season 2 will feature eight episodes instead of 10. According to HBO, this decision was driven by “story-driven content”, made both by themselves and George R.R. Martin himself.
Sapochnik will continue serving as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Condal, Martin, Jocelyn Diaz and Jocelyn Diaz. Other producers include Ron Schmidt and Ira Levin; as well as Clare Kilner of Snowpiercer fame serving as director; as well as renowned composer Ramin Djawadi as composer.
House of Dragon season 2 will not meet the Emmy deadline of 2024; however, that does not have to be seen as bad news: scripts had already been written prior to the Writer’s Strike occurring and most production is taking place outside the US so as not to disrupt production.
House of Dragon is back for another exciting season after a highly successful debut, taking viewers nearly 200 years back into Westeros and following Rhaenyra Targaryen as she fights to keep her birthright as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Fans were delighted by its debut and eagerly anticipated its second installment.
Production on House of Dragon’s second season kicked off in April 2023 and is scheduled to wrap this fall. Due to extensive visual effects for the show and more dragons appearing than in season 1, the VFX team must dedicate additional time towards perfecting CGI effects in season two.
Recent strikes by WGA and SAG-AFTRA did not impact House of Dragon’s second season premiere date of summer 2024 and HBO is already making plans for another.
After Miguel Sapochnik exited after its first season, Ryan Condal remains on board to lead season 2. Additionally, Alan Taylor will join as an executive producer and direct multiple episodes for Condal as showrunner; THR reports that Sapochnik will move on to other projects at HBO.
After the overwhelming success of Game of Thrones, HBO decided to give House of Dragon season 2 the go-ahead and premiere it in August 2022; its premiere became an instantaneous hit and attracted over 10 million viewers within days!
This prequel series, inspired by George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood and set prior to the battle between House Targaryen and House Lannister. Fans should expect more drama and bloodshed while experiencing fewer time jumps than in its original counterpart, Game of Thrones.
Filming started in April 2023 despite the WGA writers’ strike, according to Deadline, and production continued as planned until September 2023 – likely following suit with Season One which featured 10 episodes.
Miguel Sapochnick will remain as executive producer, returning for season 2. Ryan Condal will write episodes and serve as showrunner, while producers Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz and Richard Connell comprised the rest of the team. Ramin Djawadi from Game of Thrones fame will score House of Dragon’s soundtrack; season 1 concluded with Alicent taking her son onto the Iron throne despite Rhaenyra having birthright to it.
After an exceptionally successful first season, HBO quickly renewed House of Dragons for a second run. Production should resume this spring due to the WGA writers’ strike; showrunner Ryan Condal stated that in season 2, House of Dragons will expand beyond King’s Landing into other parts of Westeros and will feature more dragon battles.
House of Dragons Season 2 remains unknown, though we can expect the major players from Season 1 to return – Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke, Fabien Frankel and Tom Glynn-Carney being just some examples. Paddy Considine and Elliot Grihault won’t return as Viserys Targaryen and Prince Lucerys respectively as both roles died at the conclusion of Season 1.
Filming of House of Dragons Season 2 has already started, with production teams being seen filming scenes in Caceres (Wales), which served as King’s Landing during Season One. Production also plans on taking place across London and Europe.
House of Dragons Season 2 has yet to receive an exact release date, though reportedly targeting summer 2024. Although WGA and SAG strikes have caused numerous high-profile productions to suspend filming due to scripts written prior to writers’ strike going into effect; House of Dragons remains unaffected as its script was written prior to this happening and filming took place in the UK where actors unions do not recognize SAG-AFTRA’s picket lines.