House of the Dragon Season 2 Release Update Is Bad News for Game of Thrones Fans

This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 1.

The first season of House of the Dragon left fans with a fiery and dramatic cliffhanger. The conflict that had been brewing all season finally hit the point of no return after Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) son Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) is killed by the dragon of Queen Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) son Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). Up until that point, Rhaenyra had done her best to keep the conflict between her family and Alicent’s civil despite the fact that they usurped her throne, but this appears to be the final straw for Rhaenyra as she ends the episode with a fiery stare into the camera. Unfortunately for fans looking forward to seeing the fallout from the season 1 finale, it looks like we’ll have to wait even longer for House of the Dragon to return. 

Even though we already knew that season 2 likely wouldn’t reach our screens before 2024, HBO and HBO Max content CEO Casey Bloys confirmed in an interview with Variety that 2024 was a “good guess” for House of the Dragon’s return. According to Variety, Bloys also hinted that the second season likely wouldn’t be eligible for the 2024 Emmy season saying that it was also a “good guess” that the second season will probably premiere after the cutoff date May 31, 2024. This means that the earliest we’ll see season 2 is likely not until summer 2024. 

As hard as it may be to wait that long to see what happens next, it’s also nice to know that they aren’t looking to rush production on the series or sacrifice quality just to get it out faster. And it looks like the same philosophy applies to other Game of Thrones spinoffs that are in the works at HBO. According to Bloys, “a good script is number one priority. I am not [making spinoffs] based on wanting to have one a year, two a year. I want to do it based on the scripts that we’re excited about.”

Bloys goes on to say “Remember to get House of the Dragon following up from Game of Thrones, we developed a lot of shows, shot a pilot, developed a bunch of scripts and we got House of the Dragon. To do that again is going to take the same amount of effort. You have to develop a lot of things, try things. You never know what’s going to work. So we’re currently doing that. I’m not opposed to any number of shows. There’s probably a natural limit to how many fans want, but I’m open to any as long as we feel really good about the scripts and the prospects for a series.”

While it might be a minute before we get to see Westeros again, at least the creative team is able to take their time and not push out connected content just because they can. Since season 2 of House of the Dragon is set to feature the Dance of the Dragons civil war between Alicent and Rhaenyra’s Targaryen clans, it makes sense that they’re taking their time with it. The epic battles that Game of Thrones is known for take time to choreograph, prep for, and film, especially with the added effect of dragons. But regardless of how you feel about the wait, it should be worth it.