Call the banners!
The return of Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will come with a reduced number of episodes, HBO have confirmed. Following a successful ten-episode first season, the second series of the Emmy award-winning show will feature only eight episodes.
Recent cutbacks at HBO have led to the cancellation of various shows following leadership changes at parent company Warner Bros. Discover and many have speculated that the decision is a cost-cutting manoeuvre aimed at trimming down the budget for the upcoming season. However, a spokesperson for HBO has denied these claims, clarifying that the episode reduction is solely down to storyline purposes.
This statement is at odds with creator George R. R. Martin’s vision for the series, however. On his blog back in October, he wrote, “I am thrilled that we still have 10 hours every season to tell our tale … I hope that will continue to be true. It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish.”
This leads to speculation as to whether it will be possible for the show to accurately relay the story which Martin set forward in his epic history of the Targaryen dynasty, ‘Fire & Blood’. Fans would perhaps be forgiven for their concern at this announcement – after all, the seventh and eighth seasons of Game of Thrones were cut down from ten episodes to seven and six episodes, respectively, much to its detriment. Many people believe it left the show feeling rushed as it powered onto its conclusion, while important characters were side-lined and essential material was left out altogether.
While this news may be cause for concern for fans, the longer-term future of the series seems to be safe. Deadline has speculated that the third series of House of the Dragon has already been mapped out and HBO are already considering green-lighting it ahead of the release of the second season. Co-creator Ryan Condal has offered a few titbits to tide fans over in the meantime, confirming that viewers will meet five new dragons next season. Condal is now the sole showrunner following the departure of Game of Thrones favourite Miguel Sapochnik, director of fan-favourite episodes including ‘Hardhome’ and the ‘Battle of the Bastards’.
House of the Dragon has done much to rehabilitate fan opinion on Westeros, so we can only hope that these changes will make sense from a storyline standpoint when the show returns next year. Production is set to commence shortly, and it is likely to return to our screens in the summer of 2024.
Words by Jake Gill
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