Warning: spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 1.
House of the Dragon fans might have been hoping for another 10-episode arc in season 2, but it appears it’s going to be an even shorter outing.
It’s emerged that the second season of the Game of Thrones prequel will only feature eight episodes, but there’s said to be a good reason behind the decision.
The season 1 finale ended on a huge cliffhanger, as Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) learnt that one of her children had been killed – albeit accidentally – at the hands of her best friend-turned-nemesis Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) own son.
War blazed in her eyes as she turned to face the camera, before the screen cut to black, leaving viewers desperate to find out how the civil war between the royal family will continue to unravel and implode.
According to Deadline, an HBO spokesperson confirmed that the second season would only consist of eight episodes… and while this might seem like a disappointing update for fans, it could mean that there are more seasons overall as a result.
The spokesperson is said to have emphasised that season two boasting two fewer episodes was a ‘story-driven’ choice.
With the second season expected to come out around summertime in 2024, the publication claimed that HBO is considering greenlighting a third season.
It’s been claimed that work has already begun figuring out the trajectory of a third season, which could feature sequences originally intended for the second.
As a result of scenes being supposedly shifted to future episodes, sources insinuated that it’s likely the show could run for four seasons, but that has not yet been decided.
It was recently revealed that George RR Martin – the author of the books on which Game of Thrones and its subsequent spin-offs are based – had a specific grievance about the original series.
However, this was said to have been fixed for House of the Dragon, which is set nearly two centuries earlier in the past.
Speaking of the dragons in Game of Thrones, he admitted that they were ‘all the same’, whereas the dragons in House of th eDragon ‘had personality’.
‘They came alive. It came as great satisfaction to me,’ he said, according to Deadline.
Metro.co.uk has contacted HBO for comment.
House of the Dragon is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
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