House of the Dragon could be ending sooner than you think
The dragons are spreading their wings once again, and while it remains to be seen whether the WGA strike will affect the House of the Dragon Season 2 release date, those at the top of King's Landing are already looking ahead at the show's future...and eventual end.
It's no secret that HBO's Game of Thrones fumbled the bag in Season 8, with what was once one of the greatest TV shows of all time being torched like Lord Varys. By the sounds of it, the HotD team are doing everything in their power to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss seemed lost without George R.R. Martin's books to adapt, and while House of the Dragon has the author's Fire & Blood encyclopedia of Targaryen history to wade through, those in charge would rather cut the series short than repeat the mistakes of its bigger brother.
House of the Dragon confirmed for Season 3 at HBO
Click to enlargeSpeaking to IndieWire, showrunner Ryan Condal has good news that House of the Dragon Season 3 is heading to HBO. When asked how many series House of the Dragon will run for, Condal replied, "It's more than two," but stopped short of confirming exactly how many.
Explaining the cryptic wording, Condal added, "That's part of the discussion that we're having. Where do you appropriately end the series in a way that doesn't doesn't feel clipped, but also doesn't feel dragged out?"
Martin previously told The Wall Street Journal (paywalled) how he'd envisioned GoT to keep running. "I was saying it needs to be 10 seasons at least and maybe 12, 13. I lost that one." It's unclear what happened, but Martin isn't thought to have been that involved in Game of Thrones.
Whole story arcs and characters like Lady Stoneheart and Aegon VI Targaryen were cut from the series, but ultimately, Martin's sluggish pace in writing the books likely played a part in why Game of Thrones bowed out after eight seasons. Given the ending, that's probably for the best.
What is House of the Dragon Season 2 about?
Click to enlargeConfirming what we expected, House of the Dragon Season 2 will focus on the younger brood of Targaryens and the fight for the Iron Throne between their warring parents. Following THAT big death in the season finale, the war between the Greens and Blacks is sure to heat up.
"This second season is about the kids that we only saw for a couple of episodes at the end of the series that are now grown up to be young adults who have dragons, said Condal. "[The kids] are of riding and fighting age, who have opinions of their own and a desire to get out there and defend the family claim."
In a separate interview with Variety, Condal confirmed we shouldn't expect any major time jumps after House of the Dragon Season 1 covered several decades in its 10-episode run. Much like The Last of Us teams have hinted the series could wrap after three or four seasons, it sounds like House of the Dragon is heading for the same.
