The second season of House of the Dragon was solid overall, but the ending let people down a bit. If you're a whiny nerd like me, you might have been upset by some of the huge changes the show made from the source material: Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. If you're normal, you may not have liked that the season just kind of...ended. There wasn't really anything in the vein of a big climactic finish. Power didn't change hands. We ended on the precipice of several clashes between the Greens and the Blacks, but we didn't see any of them.
That wasn't always the plan. Originally the second season was going to have 10 episodes, and would have climaxed with a giant fight called the Battle of the Gullet. For a lot of reasons — the Hollywood strikes of 2023, budget concerns, worries the season would take too long to get out — the episode count was reduced from 10 to eight, and the Battle of the Gullet was moved to the beginning of season 3.
HBO executive Francesca Orsi put a happy face on this delay while talking to Deadline. “I’m really excited. I think you’re going to be in for a great surprise on how we start the [season] with an exciting battle,” she said.
"You know what, it was worth the wait. I was just on set and saw all the elements and what was behind it. I’m so glad we waited because it’s going to be better than ever, and I don’t think we had the time at that point to do what it is that we’ve achieved now this season."
Without spoiling anything, the Battle of the Gullet happens over water, and involves multiple dragons and a huge fleet of ships. It's a big deal, and if we have to wait to see it, I'm glad to hear that the team is at least going all out to do it right. “It’s just so massive, we needed the time to build it,” Orsi said. “One of the lead producers on it [Kevin de la Noy] worked on Titanic, so all that he brought in terms of acumen of what happened on the Titanic and how that entire experience is built, he brings that expertise to it.”
We should expect a lot more news about House of the Dragon season 3 soon. Actors have received scripts, and the cameras are due to turn on any day now and roll into the middle of fall. There is some huge stuff coming up.
The downside is that it will take awhile. Expect to see the third season of House of the Dragon sometime in 2026. In the meantime, HBO is airing the first season of a new Game of Thrones prequel show, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, later this year:
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