HBO's ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 will have 2 episodes less than Season 1
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It is not unknown that HBO's 'House of the Dragon' is one of the most expensive and watched series on the channel. However, many tried to pit it again the post-apocalyptic series, 'The Last of Us' featuring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, but fans stayed loyal to the fantasy drama. 'House of the Dragon‘s first season ended with an episode that found Rhaenyra giving birth to a stillborn daughter, getting crowned queen, and learning that her middle son, Lucerys, had been killed by Aemond Targaryen and his dragon. Afterward, showrunner Ryan Condal said that the show would no longer skip around in the history of Westeros or recast the main characters. The first season has an ensemble cast that featured Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish, Matthew Needham, Jefferson Hall, Olivia Cooke, and Harry Collett. However, we are unsure if Considine will be seen this season as the creators showed his character Viserys' death in the first season. A proud moment for Condal was when the series won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama this year in January.
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From 10 episodes to 8
The 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 episode count has been revealed and some fans will be disappointed as the second installment of the 'Game of Thrones' prequel. As per a report from Deadline, which notes that it will likely premiere in the summer of 2024, the 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 episode count sits at eight episodes long. That is two episodes less than the first season, which was ten episodes long. Originally, it was set to be a 10-episode arc, although due to some script rewrites it was trimmed down to just eight. While Warner Bros. has become notorious for cost-cutting measures lately, this is said to purely be a creative decision due to the story structure. Not much is known about the upcoming season, although it has been said that more dragons will be featured.
'House of the Dragon' stole hearts
The first season received highly positive reviews, with praise for its character development, visual effects, writing, score by Ramin Djawadi, and performances (particularly Considine, Smith, D'Arcy, Alcock, and Cooke). However, the pacing, specifically of the time jumps, and the dark lighting of some scenes were criticized. The series premiere was watched by over 10 million viewers across the linear channels and HBO Max on the first day, the biggest in HBO's history. Nevertheless, let's be hopeful that the shortened season is part of a longer plan that includes the possibility of an early Season 3 renewal.