Ryan Condal knew Miguel Sapochnik might leave House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon is officially a hit for HBO, so surely the network wanted a solid team in place to steer the ship going forward. But a few weeks back, the fandom was surprised to hear that Miguel Sapochnik — who was serving as showrunner along with Ryan Condal — was exiting the series.

Sapochnik directed some of the most beloved episodes of Game of Thrones, including “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter.” He was handling the directing side of House of the Dragon season 1 while Condal focused on the writing. But according to Condal, there was always a chance Sapochnik wouldn’t stick around for the long haul.

“It was definitely in Miguel’s mind,” Condal told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s definitely lived in Westeros for a really long time. I was always potentially aware that he might have just set this one season up on his feet and got the feather in his cap of doing a show that he co-ran and had a hand in the conception and casting and making of, versus the original series where he definitely became a producer at the end, was certainly I think [Thrones showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [“D.B.” Weiss]’s most trusted filmmaker, but not in the way that he participated in House of the Dragon. So it was always in the back of my mind.”

"I think at the end, he felt like he had said what he had to say. He’s a tremendously talented filmmaker, which is obvious from the work that everybody is seeing and will continue to see with episode 5 and 7. I think there’s lots of stories that he has left to tell. And honestly, as a fan of his, I’m excited to see where he goes next."

Miguel Sapochnik could still return as a director to House of the Dragon

Reportedly, Sapochnik had to be coaxed onto House of the Dragon in the first place, so I’m not surprised that he’s a little burned out on all things Westeros and wanted out. That said, I do hope he returns to the show eventually as a director — Condal is also hopeful — although he won’t be around in season 2.

Speaking of season 2, while Sapochnik isn’t exactly getting a replacement, Alan Taylor is coming on board to direct several episodes and serve as an executive producer. He has a good pedigree, too: he directed Game of Thrones episodes like “Baelor” and “Fire and Blood,” in addition to working on The Sopranos, Deadwood, Mad Men and much more.

“That’s a director that I just would have assumed was not available, but I’ve always wanted to work with with Alan,” Condal said. “He’s a legend, has worked on almost, I think, every one of my favorite television shows of all time. When HBO brought him up, we jumped all over it. We got on the phone and we chatted. We hit it off very quickly. He had already seen, I think by that point, the first episode of our show and was really excited about what we were doing. It was just a fast friendship that we developed. I’m excited to work with Alan and see what he brings to House to the Dragon.”

Us too, but that won’t be for a while. Sapochnik also directed the upcoming seventh episode of House of the Dragon season 1.

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