Why is House of the Dragon Season 2 so short?

Some viewers might be stumped as to why House of the Dragon Season 2 is shorter than the first season, following the success of the prequel’s first outing.

House of the Dragon has to be one of TV’s greatest success stories of 2022. It defied the odds laid out by the disastrous response to the final season of Game of Thrones, an extinction-level event for the franchise’s place in pop culture.

Taking place 172 years before the birth of the Mad Queen, the prequel revolves around the Dance of the Dragons, an infamous civil war that brought the Targaryen dynasty to its knees. The Dance commenced with the unexpected demise in the Season 1 finale.

Yet, temper your enthusiasm for the next 10 episodes, as House of the Dragon Season 2 is poised to be slightly shorter. The question is: why?

House of the Dragon Season 2 will only have eight episodes

House of the Dragon Season 2 will be short in comparison to its inaugural season, coming with just eight episodes compared to the first season’s ten episodes.

Clare Kilner, a director on the show, recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming season, which has “eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode… and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour.”

So, there’s your answer: while there’ll be less episodes, don’t expect much in the way of filler, as each week will come with major plot advancements. “[Showrunner Ryan Condal’s] decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they’re jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events,” Kilner said.

HBO

While other productions have paused due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, House of the Dragon has still been shooting; the scripts were finished before the strikes began, and actors are allowed to keep filming thanks to their local union rules.

As for how the season will begin, Condal earlier said it’ll “pick up where we left off… now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones,” as per Deadline.

“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.”

The second season of House of the Dragon will reportedly wrap up shooting by the beginning of October. Tom Lorcan is set to star as a House Stark Captain, while Tom Taylor has been linked to the show in an unannounced role.

You can find out what we know about House of the Dragon Season 2 here, what new scenes will be featured here, and check out our other Game of Thrones coverage here.