HBO’s award-winning series, House of The Dragon, has been cut short for its second season, and fans of the show who were awaiting its release are now left puzzled as to why HBO would choose to make lesser episodes of such a hit series.
First seen on the platform on August 21st, 2022, this Ryan Condal series became an overnight success, with almost 10 million viewers tuning in to watch the show a day after it was released publicly. Being Game of Thrones’ predecessor may have been one of the major factors for its popularity, but the cast, well-paced plot as well as the CGI shown on the series are all significant reasons House of The Dragons is so popular.
The plot revolves around the Targaryen family in the period when they were in power and controlled many. The Storyline of this series takes place almost 200 years back from the events of Game Of Thrones, making it a crucial part of history when trying to understand how the Targaryens came into power. House of The Dragons starts with Rhaenyra’s journey from a princess to a queen and ends with the Targaryens gearing up for a war with the Hightowers.
House of The Dragon Season 2 To Have Lesser Episodes: The Reason Behind It
The first season of the series ended with ten episodes, much similar to the usual number of episodes its successor used to have. House of The Dragon season 2 was set to have ten episodes as well, but when HBO greenlit the George R. R. Martin series for more than three seasons, the creators decided to make the second season shorter.
HBO usually announces the probable release date of new seasons along with the expected number of episodes, but this time, they chose to keep the number of episodes unannounced. It was only after the confirmation of seasons 3 and 4 that they came out with the news of an 8-episode season instead of the usual 10. The budget for each episode of House of The Dragon was estimated to be about 20 million dollars, making the whole show’s budget a whopping $200 million.
Game of Thrones used to have a budget of just $100 million, which is still quite large, but it’s half of what House of the Dragon ended up having. Even at its best, each episode of Game of Thornes costs around $15 million. To make sure that they have enough budget to keep House of The Dragons going for three more seasons, the producers decided to reduce the episodes to 8.
In exchange for the removed episodes, the remaining ones may be extended from one hour to 75 minutes or more. The plot of the second season had to be changed as well, with a major fight being postponed for the later seasons. This does not mean that the second season won’t feature anything significant. The series will follow its highly appreciated pace and won’t be having any sudden large-time skips.
House Of The Dragon Season 2: The Returning Cast
With the show ending on the verge of War, we can expect the next season to begin with a brutal start as the Targaryens seemed to be in no mood to forgive the other side. With that said, Emma D’Arcy will be reprising her role as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, while Matt Smith will be Daemon Targaryen once again.
Alicent’s father, Otto Hightower, will be played by Rhys Ifans, while Alicent will be portrayed by Olivia Cooke. Ewan Mitchell may return in his role of Aemond Targaryen as well. Filming of the second season of House of The Dragon will take place in England, and later parts will be filmed in Spain.
House Of The Dragon Season 2: Expected Release Date
Although a date has not been confirmed for its release, the second season of House of The Dragon will likely start airing in the year 2024, sometime in either summer or spring. Filming for the second season has been scheduled to begin in April 2023 and will continue to take place throughout the year.
How To Watch House Of The Dragon?
Until the next season arrives, you can stream the existing episodes of the fantasy series on Disney+, Hulu, as well as its main streaming platform, HBO. The episodes can be streamed from any region where Disney+ exists.
Also Read: 33 Shows Like House Of The Dragon, The Best Thrilling Series
