House Of The Dragon Director Talks Shorter — But 'Jam-Packed' — Season 2 Episode Count

In a new interview, a House of the Dragon director discusses the thinking behind why Season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel will be two episodes shorter than Season 1 was.

Claire Kilner recently spoke with TVLine's sister site The Hollywood Reporter about the popular fantasy series, which was renewed for a sophomore run in August 2022, just six days after its premiere. In March, news broke that House of the Dragon's second season would clock in at a total of eight episodes. The inaugural season, in contrast, consisted of 10 episodes.

Season 2 has "eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour," Kilner said. She added that showrunner Ryan Condal made the choice "to give it a good opening and a good ending," and she promised that the installments are "jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events." This jibes with an earlier report that the run had been trimmed in order to service the story.

New House of the Dragon episodes are not likely to air until 2024, according to HBO and Max chief content officer Casey Bloys. "We're just starting to put the plan together, and just like last time, there are so many unknowns," Bloys said soon after the Season 1 finale aired in October 2022. "It's not to be coy or secretive, but you don't want to say it's going to be ready on this date, and then you have to move it... Don't expect it in 2023."