House of the Dragon Showrunner Exiting Before Season 2

House of the Dragon is officially a smash hit for the Game of Thrones franchise – so it's surprising to hear that the showrunner won't be returning for the already-confirmed Season 2! New reports are coming in stating that Game of Thrones director and House of the Dragon showrunner Miguel Sapochnik will NOT be coming back for the second season of House of the Dragon – which is, again, a surprising end to Sapochnik's time with the franchise.

...Or is it? 

MIguel Sapochnik got both famous and infamous for his work on Game of Thrones. He joined the show in Season 5, and took on the job of directing some of the series' most technically-challenging spectacle "events," including the Wildlings vs. White Walkers fight ("Hardhome"), the showdown between Ramsay Bolton and Jon Snow ("Battle of the Bastards"), and Cersei's coup to take the throne by slaughtering an entire church filled with her enemies ("The Winds of Winter). 

However, when Sapochnik was handed the job of taking on the two biggest episodes of Game of Thrones' final season ("The Long Night" and "The Bells") who got almost universal criticism and backlash. "The Long Night" and its Battle of Winterfell culminating the fight against the White Walkers pretty much disappointed everyone, with Sapochnik sparking even more criticism by responding to criticisms of his direction and overly dark cinematography by accusing fans of not having proper technical understanding of how to set up their televisions, etc. "The Bells" only dug Sapochnik into a deeper hole, as the episode showed the on-the-dime turn of Daenerys Targaryen from series hero into crazed villain – a character twist that is still causing waves of backlash to Game of Thrones' entire story arc. 

In that context, it was certainly surprising when Game of Thrones fans (or ex-fans) heard that Sapochnik was being brought on as the showrunner of House of the Dragon. The skepticism he faced was certainly substantial – and the success of the spinoff show (over 10 million viewers each episode in the first two eps) must certainly feel like sweet validation, for Sapochnik. 

That said, having redeemed his work in the Game of Thrones franchise from the stumbles of the original series' final season, it would be perfectly understandable for Sapochnik to get House of the Dragon off the ground, and move on. Who knows: his next assignment could very well turn out to still be working with HBO and the Game of Thrones franchise, getting that Jon Snow sequel series off the ground... 

More details on this news as they come to light. House of the Dragon streams new episodes Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.