House of the Dragon Director Comments on Shorter Season 2

The second season of HBO’s massive hit, House of the Dragon is currently in production, making it one of the only major shows to continue filming during the WGA and SAG strikes. The series is a prequel to Game of Thrones, and much like the first series, it is changing up the number of episodes per season. The first six seasons of Game of Thrones were ten episodes each, and then the seventh season dropped down to seven episodes while the eighth and final season only had six. House of the Dragon‘s first season had ten episodes, and the follow-up season is expected to have eight. Recently, director Clare Kilner spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and addressed Season 2’s eight episodes.

“There are eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour. Ryan’s [Condal] decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they’re jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events,” Kilner explained.

What Is House of the Dragon Season 2 About?

At the end of the first season, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) was supposed to become the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, having been appointed by her late father, King Viserys (Paddy Constantine). Unfortunately, things go awry when Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) crowns her son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) as the new king instead. The season ends with one of Alicent’s sons killing one of Rhaenyra’s sons, essentially igniting a war that is expected to bloom in the second season. While speaking about House of the Dragon Season 2, Condal addressed the work being done on the new episodes…

“I’m excited to pick up where we left off,” Condal said (per Deadline). “Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones. 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.”

How do you feel about the second season of House of the Dragon being shorter? Tell us in the comments! Stay tuned for more updates about House of the Dragon.