'House of the Dragon' showrunner Miguel Sapochnik reportedly quit after HBO didn't hire his wife
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'House of the Dragon' stirred many conjectures since the time of its release. Be it the incestual scenes or the shocking ending, people couldn't stop talking about it. Furthermore, the co-showrunner and director, Miguel Sapochnik left HBO’s 'Game of Thrones' spinoff ahead of Season 2 although no proper clarification was given earlier. However, over a course of time, we realized Queen Alicent’s maid Talya or, at least, the woman who portrayed her turns out to be an additional important part of the 'House of the Dragon' figure than we might have thought.
Regardless, 'House of the Dragon' co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik left HBO’s 'Game of Thrones' spinoff ahead of Season 2 “after a protracted standoff over his wife and her involvement in the show,” as recent reports suggest. However, after Sapochnik departed as showrunner after the first season, it left Ryan Condal to serve as the sole showrunner for the second season. Rumor has it, the second season is set to begin filming in Spain in early 2023.
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According to a report from Puck (via IndieWire), Sapochnik abruptly left 'House of the Dragon' when his wife, Alexis Raben, and her involvement as a producer on the show caused clashes with the heads of HBO. He wished for Raben to continue as a producer into season 2, but the network rejected this due to Raben's lack of experience. A mediator was even brought in to de-escalate the situation. Sapochnik later quit the series and fired his agents at WME, moving over to CAA with his wife. Raben was also seen onscreen in 'House of the Dragon' Season 1, playing Talya, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke).
Ryan Condal previously spoke about how Sapochnik left the series, suggesting that the Game of Thrones alum was apprehensive about joining the prequel in the first place. As someone who's already done so much in the Game of Thrones world, Condal says he always had a feeling from the start that Sapochnik's time working on the series would be limited.
In a previous interview with Variety, Ryan Condal spoke about moving on without his creative partner, "Thankfully, I have a wonderful team around me. I'm excited about the story that we're going to tell in Season 2. There are thousands of people that go into the making of this. It's on me to be a great leader and try to inspire people, hopefully with some good writing, to get the very best work out of them and make another great season of the show."
You can watch 'House of the Dragon' Season 1's episode on HBO Max.