House of the Dragon’s Ending Change Can Save It From Game of Thrones Season 8’s Disaster

HBO is already looking towards the endgame of House of the Dragon, and recent news may give it a better shot of avoiding the problems that hurt Game of Thrones Season 8. The ending to Game of Thrones still casts a very large shadow, because, whether you personally liked it or not, it’s gone down in history as one of TV’s most disastrous series finales. That backlash and reputation, or anything even remotely close to it, is something House of the Dragon desperately needs to avoid.

The prequel has already had its own issues, with George R.R. Martin himself criticizing House of the Dragon Season 2’s adaptation choices, but there could be bigger ones to come if it rushes to the finish line like Game of Thrones did. Thankfully, there’s some cause for optimism on that front, as a recent report from Deadline noted that House of the Dragon Season 4 may no longer be the last one. It’d previously been said that was when the show would wrap things up, and while it may still be the case, those plans are very much up in the air now, which would be to the show’s benefit.

House of the Dragon Needs More Than 16 Episodes To End The Story

House of the Dragon has a more streamlined narrative than Game of Thrones did, since it’s focused on the Dance of the Dragons, but it’s still an expansive series with lots of major characters. Based on Martin’s Fire & Blood, there are several huge events to come in the show, and plenty of twists and turns to come in the Targaryen civil war. Season 3 will begin with the Fall of King’s Landing and the Battle of the Gullet, but there are more than half-a-dozen other notable battles to come that deserve to be shown on screen, and that’s before factoring in massive deaths, allegiances changing, and more.

And, of course, within all of that there needs to be room for the series to breathe, and for the character decisions to be better fleshed out. If it had just 16 episodes, there’d be a risk of just jumping from one event to the next at a near breakneck pace, which is what Game of Thrones suffered from. It became about moments, rather than the space in between the moments. It needs to ensure time to set up the big events, gradually building to them so that they feel earned. This also goes for the very end of the show, where ideally there’d be a bit more time to spend with that storyline, which seems harder on the current trajectory.

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If it does go beyond Season 4, I think there’s more likely going to be something of a balancing act, rather than a full Season 5. I can very much imagine what’s effectively a split season, where we maybe get six episodes in Season 4 and then six in Season 5, filmed back-to-back or as one thing to reduce the wait (Season 4 is confirmed to be releasing in 2028). But that would be a decent alternative to just having one eight episode season to wrap everything up.

House of the Dragon Should’ve Taken A Slower Approach From The Start

The downside to this is that even if the House of the Dragon team does take this course, it’s coming too late. The show’s first season, in particular, moved too quickly once it started having time jumps. Things like Harwin Strong and Rhaenyra Targaryen’s relationship, Ser Criston Cole’s descent, and the friendship (and its breakdown) between Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower, to name but a few, all could’ve benefited from more screen time, rather than Season 1 trying to span so many years in just 10 episodes, which then would’ve provided a stronger foundation for things moving forward.

Alas, there’s no undoing that (though it could still utilize flashbacks), but it would be encouraging for it to learn from that mistake and push forward with a pacing that still hits all the major events (Season 2 suffered from not getting this right, largely due to the Battle of the Gullet being pushed back to Season 3), but has proper build up and space to do everything justice. That way, House of the Dragon can have the ending it deserves, rather than one that will piss everyone off (it can’t please everyone, but maybe it can please enough people this time).

House of the Dragon Season 3 will be released in summer 2026 on HBO and HBO Max.

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