House of the Dragon season 2 is “jam-packed,” has “a good opening and a good ending”
By Dan Selcke
The first season of House of the Dragon aired on HBO last year and accomplished what many thought would be impossible: follow up the enormous success of Game of Thrones with a prequel series featuring a whole new set of characters, and make it a hit. And on top of that, the first season spread its story over a period of several years, to the point where a few major cast members were replaced by different actors partway through. No biggee.
But the show ended up being as good or better than anyone could have hoped. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, director Clare Kilner thinks the much-ballyhooed 10-year time jump in the middle of the first season worked, however risky it might have been. “You can’t please everyone, and storytelling is so personal. When you’re on set, you just have to make decisions and own them, and I’m sure that’s true with showrunners as well,” she said.
"We’re really invested in these characters now and understand where they came from — especially with the fighting between [the characters as] kids and what they did to each other — and the effect of that feels very present in this season."
That would be the second season, which will pick after Aemond Targaryen killed his nephew Lucerys Velaryon in the season 1 finale, the event that takes a simmering cold war for the Iron Throne between Lucerys’ mother Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon and makes it red-hot. “The cast has] come in this season more relaxed, and there’s a sense of family,” Kilner said. “Everybody knows one another and wants to do good work, and they know their characters so much better.”
Why does House of the Dragon season 2 have eight episodes, down from 10?
Kilner is one of two House of the Dragon directors returning from the first season, the other being Geeta Patel. Here’s the full director lineup for season 2:
- Episode 1: Alan Taylor
- Episode 2: Clare Kilner
- Episode 3: Geeta Patel
- Episode 4: Alan Taylor
- Episode 5: Clare Kilner
- Episode 6: Andrij Parekh
- Episode 7: Loni Peristere
- Episode 8: Geeta Patel
Alan Taylor directed some famous episodes of Game of Thrones, including the one where Ned Stark gets his head chopped off. He’s been brought on to serve in something of a supervisory role this time around. “It’s very inspiring because there are five directors and they’re all different, and we’re all watching the dailies and commenting on one another’s work. We can’t help it, we’re all a bit competitive,” Kilner said. “So, Alan helps us up our game. He’s such an accomplished director, and I really love the way he uses depth of field and focus in his storytelling to bring viewers’ attention to certain elements in the frame. I’ve been watching that and going, “How can I evolve in that direction?”
You may notice that season 2 only has eight episodes whereas season 1 had 10. Why the reduction? “There are eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour,” Kilner said. “Ryan’s decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they’re jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events.”
We’ll see how that shakes out when House of the Dragon season 2 premieres on HBO and Max sometime in 2024.
House of the Dragon director “gutted” that Paddy Considine and Emmy D’Arcy didn’t get Emmy nominations
In the meantime, we’re still celebrating House of the Dragon season 1, which is up for several Emmys, including Best Drama.
However, none of the actors were nominated for awards, which still grates. I was especially hoping to see Paddy Considine get nominated for his work as King Viserys I Targaryen, both because he was fantastic and because he won’t get a chance to get another nomination for the role.
Kilner was also disappointed at the lack of awards love for the cast. “I was gutted because I love them and I think they’re great. The awards season is wonderful to get attention for the show and everything, but we’re also just trying to tell stories in the most creative and interesting way and reach an audience, and that’s what really counts,” she said.
Next. House of the Dragon: Criston Cole actor on set to film Battle at Rook’s Rest. dark
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