House of the Dragon scenes become “meatier” in season 2

Clare Kilner directed three episodes of the first season of House of the Dragon, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series. They were pretty big, too: Episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea,” the one where Daemon Targaryen takes his own niece Rhaenyra to a brothel; Episode 5, “We Light the Way,” the one where Criston Cole murders a man at Rhaenyra’s wedding; and Episode 9, “The Green Council,” the one where Alicent Hightower and company pick up the pieces after the death of King Viserys.

Kilner will be back for the second season, directing two of the eight episodes (down from 10 in season 1). “I’m doing Episodes 2 and 5, really interesting episodes,” she told Collider. “It’s really difficult to talk about because I’m worried I’m gonna give it away, but it’s great. It’s really wonderful, having done three episodes prior, to come into something which is like such a family. I know the actors, have this rapport with them, you know, it’s just, it’s really exciting. I’m always nervous before new jobs even if I know everybody, but I love it.

According to Kilner, there are five directors working on season 2. Geeta Patel, who directed the incredible episode “The Lord of the Tides” will also be coming back. Newcomers include Andrij Parekh, who directed episodes of Succession; and Alan Taylor, who directed Ned Stark’s beheading way back in the first season of Game of Thrones.

“Everything is operatic, everything is huge, everything has this grand scale” on House of the Dragon

The first season of House of the Dragon introduced us to players like Rhaenyra Targaryen, her husband Daemon Targaryen, and her frenemy Alicent Hightower. There were a lot of time jumps as the season covered over a decade in the lives of these characters. Now that the pieces are in place, season 2 will proceed more like a normal TV show, without big jumps forward in time.

“It’s really interesting because the scenes become meatier in a way because you’re digging deeper into characters, and you’ve got this history,” Kilner said. “So, I mean, I really like to mine writing for everything that’s underneath the words, and part of that, as well, is having the trust of the actors. Because you really want to try and put on screen, illustrate visually, what’s really going on in their heart and their souls and their minds whilst they’re speaking these words because often those two don’t tally. So it’s like, how do you – I think that’s all I can say, really; you just go deeper with the characters and their relationships.”

"I mean, everything is operatic, everything is huge, everything has this grand scale, but at the heart of it, it’s the same thing. It’s like a family dysfunction. It’s like, how do these people connect? And in a way, every job I do comes with this sort of same thing, like who are these people, how are they trying to connect with the world? What is their story? How does it relate to us? But it’s been such an epic journey, I don’t want it to stop."

The second season of House of the Dragon is due out on HBO sometime in the summer of 2024, assuming the tumult in Hollywood doesn’t throw things off.

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