House of the Dragon writers preview season 2, Daemon’s journey

The bells have tolled over King’s Landing: House of the Dragon season 1 is over, King Viserys I Targaryen is dead, and the dragons have danced their first dance. Season 2 of HBO’s hit Game of Thrones prequel series isn’t due to start filming until early 2023, which means that it’ll likely be some time before we return to Westeros. But the creatives are already hard at work preparing for the show’s sophomore outing.

Showrunner Ryan Condal recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about a variety of topics, including what said. “There’s a million little things you learn in the process of making any first season. We made 10 episodes. They were extraordinarily difficult. I intend to put all those lessons into use on season 2,” Condal said. “They were less sort of universal concepts about making television and more about making this particular show – even for [crew members] who worked the original Game of Thrones. They’re more [producer oriented] than creative; ways to do things more efficiently.”

"The wonder of going into season two – for any show, but for this one in particular – is we have such an embarrassment of riches in terms of the great cast that we put together. The writing is so much easier because you’re now writing for a this great cast [who we have now seen] embody these roles. They’re three-dimensional characters and it makes their story so much easier to tell because they’re already embodied and there’s a joy in the writing because of that."

House of the Dragon showrunner aware of darkness complaints: “I get it”

One particular production element we may see change in future seasons is the color palette. Unlike the early seasons of Game of Thrones, which were fairly bright with a lot of color (depending on where in the world we were), Dragon opted for a more gloomy, atmospheric tone. For the most part it worked well for this story about the slow implosion of a dynasty, but there was at least one instance that had fans in a bit of an uproar: the show’s seventh episode, “Driftmark,” featured an extended night sequence that many viewers had difficulty watching on their home television sets.

Condal says he’s very much aware of these complaints, as well as how the issue might have come about in the first place. He’ll be keeping it in mind for season 2. “The visual continuity of the show is certainly something that we will look at,” he said. “That stuff is always so tricky because we’re doing [post-production] on millions of dollars worth of high-end equipment, almost as if we’re making a movie. It looked great in post and it looked great on my television. But when you release a Star Wars film, you’re releasing it in theaters. For TV, you’re releasing it onto a million different television screens and different setups and calibrations all over the planet. You’re also releasing it through different distributors who are going to distribute it in 4K or 1080p or 1080i or not that at all. So it’s hard to account for everybody’s everybody’s televisions and their calibrations and sometimes the file can get compressed. So the show can look very different than the thing that we saw and approved and released.”

"But look: It’s our job to take all that into account. These are one of the things that you learn in the making of a show – you take that knowledge into account when making season two and say, “How can we do better?” The feedback was certainly heard. I get it. And we want the show to be a great viewing experience for everybody."

The dragon has three heads, but many seasons?

Condal also discussed how many seasons House of the Dragon could run. Author George R.R. Martin recently said he believes it will take four seasons to tell the story of the Dance of the Dragons properly. Does Condal agree?

“I’m very focused on the 10 episodes in front of me at the moment,” he demurred. “There’s definitely more storytelling to come after season two. This is the story of a Targaryen dynasty that marches on for 150 years after the events in the season one finale. Kings and queens come and go as the history marches on. So the question is less where this story ends and more where does the curtain fall [on the show]. Because it’s an ongoing history being written George as we go. It’s not like the Song of Ice and Fire books where the end is the end of the story. This is the end of a chapter in the story, and then another chapter begins. So ‘I don’t know yet’ is the honest answer. But we will take the time that we need to tell this story and when it dramatically needs to come to an end, it will come to an end.”

Fair enough. House of the Dragon is in a fascinating position in that no matter how the show itself ends, Targaryen history will indeed continue for more than a century until the events of Robert’s Rebellion, which precedes Game of Thrones. Where exactly will House of the Dragon end? As long as we get “The Hour of the Wolf” chapter from the book, I’ll be happy.

House of the Dragon season 2 will delve deeper into Daemon’s psyche

One of the most iconic characters to come out of House of the Dragon season 1 is without a doubt Daemon Targaryen, the rogue prince who is seen as a hero or villain depending on who’s looking at him. Daemon is a perfect example of the complexity of this series; he constantly pushes boundaries, murders his wife, sexually grooms his teenage niece, and then turns around and acts like a caring father and brother again before the season ends. The season finale, “The Black Queen,” dug even deeper into this duality when Daemon strangled his wife Rhaenyra in a fit of deep-seated rage.

So where will we find Daemon in season 2? Will he descend even deeper into the depths of villainy, or will he once more remind us of his better angels? According to executive producer and writer Sara Hess, probably a bit of both. “I was actually texting about this with George the other day, and he reminded me of that quote about Byron: ‘Mad, bad, and dangerous to know,’” Hess told Vanity Fair, reflecting on how Daemon’s edgy personality may be one of the things that simultaneously imperils Rhaenyra and draws her to him. “And that, from a character standpoint, is super interesting to us.”

"We’re working on season two right now and really getting into exploring his psyche and taking him on a journey to where he needs to end up."

Hess also made a point to reassure viewers that the show will not be changing anything major from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood. “We need to omit some things for time and space, and we obviously need to invent some things to fill in the blanks. But we are always striving to stay within the basic lines that George established.”

House of the Dragon season 1 is available now on HBO Max. We’re expecting season 2 to land sometime in 2024.

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