House Of The Dragon Will Be At Least 3 Seasons, Showrunner Says

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is coming back for a second season, but how long will the show run in total? That remains to be seen, but showrunner Ryan Condal said in a new interview that he doesn't want the series to overstay its welcome.

Speaking to IndieWire, Condal confirmed that House of the Dragon will have at least three seasons, but beyond that, there are discussions underway about the total number of seasons.

"It's more than two," Condal said. "That's part of the discussion that we're having. Where do you appropriately end the series in a way that doesn't doesn't feel clipped, but also doesn't feel dragged out?"

For comparison, Game of Thrones ran for eight seasons. Author George R.R. Martin wanted multiple additional seasons, but he did not get his way. Among other things, viewers remarked that the final season felt rushed and could have benefitted from more episodes.

For House of the Dragon, Condal--who is now the sole showrunner after Miguel Sapochnik dropped out--said Season 2 will focus on some of the children from Season 1 who are now grown.

"This second season is about the kids that we only saw for a couple of episodes at the end of the series that are now grown up to be young adults who have dragons, who are of riding and fighting age, who have opinions of their own and a desire to get out there and defend the family claim," Condal said.

In addition to his work on House of the Dragon, Condal is working on an additional Game of Thrones spin-off--Dunk and Egg--in the role of executive producer.

House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently in production and will reportedly continue despite the Hollywood writers' strike because the scripts are already done. There are believed to be eight episodes in Season 2, compared to 10 for Season 1. An official premiere date has not been confirmed yet, but Season 2 isn't expected to arrive until June 2024 at the very soonest.