Thank the gods: House of the Dragon season 2 is lit more brightly than season 1

Over the weekend, HBO dropped the first trailer for House of the Dragon season 2, and it is terrific:

We get intriguing peaks at lots of scenes, from Rhaenyra Targaryen visiting the place where her son died to Aemond lusting after the Iron Throne to a glimpse of the infamous Blood and Cheese incident. What’s more, we can see all of them clearly.

You might think that’s a given, but the first season of House of the Dragon came under fire for looking too dark, as in this scene from the episode “Driftmark” where Rhaenyra and Daemon walk on a beach at night:

I mean, I understand it’s nighttime, but how am I supposed to know what the characters are feeling if I can’t make out their expressions? Why hire these great actors when we can’t see their performances? This was a problem with Game of Thrones too; many fans criticized the season 8 episode “The Long Night” in particular for being so dark they couldn’t make out what was happening, which you need to do if you’re expected to follow a battle.

In any case, the producers of House of the Dragon seemed to have taken the criticisms to heart, because the night scenes in the trailer for House of the Dragon season 2 are significantly brighter. We can still tell they’re set at night, but now we can make out what’s happening in them. For example, take a look at these shots from scenes set in a darkened Iron Throne Room and in a forest in the North:

One fan even made a video comparing the trailer for the first season of House of the Dragon to the trailer for the second. The photography does indeed look brighter:

"Miguel Sapochnik took the darkness with him (literally) byu/Drogerion inHouseOfTheDragon"

Why is House of the Dragon season 2 brighter than season 1?

So why exactly has the show gotten brighter? Well, like I said, people were criticizing it before, so I can imagine that HBO heard those critiques and adjusted. But people also criticized the final season of Game of Thrones, and that didn’t stop the first season of House of the Dragon from being underlit.

The Great Brightening may have something to do with House of the Dragon co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik leaving the show after season 1. Sapochnik was the director behind some of the most iconic episodes of Game of Thrones, including “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter”; no one complained about the lighting in those. He seemed to develop an interest in the low-light look in the final seasons of the show, something he carried over to House of the Dragon; he directed both “The Long Night” and “Driftmark.”

I don’t want to disparage Sapochnik for his cinematographic choices; he did great work front to back, but he did seem a little overly attached to shadow and shade. Personally, I think brightening up the look of the show is the right move. I’m sorry to lose Sapochnik’s input, but I’m glad I can see what’s going on, assuming his exit really did clear the way for a change in photography.

In Sapochnik’s absence, veteran Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor will be stepping in to help House of the Dragon’s remaining showrunner Ryan Condal manage things. House of the Dragon season 2 is due out on HBO and Max sometime in the summer of 2024.

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