Ryan Condal, showrunner for HBO’s ‘House Of The Dragon‘, has confirmed that they plan to end the ‘Game Of Thrones’ prequel series at Season 4.
The drama, which aired its Season 2 finale earlier this week, is based on George R.R. Martin’s book ‘Fire & Blood’, which (unlike the main ‘Game Of Thrones’/’A Song of Ice and Fire’ plot) is a completed and published story. It’s also a singular book, rather than a novel series, so it was always likely to have a shorter run than the original show.
Set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” ‘House Of The Dragon’ tells the story of House Targaryen. Season two saw Westeros on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. Each faction believes theirs to be the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, forcing the whole of Westeros to choose their side of House Targaryen.
This season’s finale episode was possibly a little more “low-key” than people expected, with no big battle, but manoeuvered the key players into position for the upcoming epic and bloody “Battle of the Gullet”. Rather than including that sequence in season two, he’s holding on to it for season three. Condal explained to reporters recently that it was a case of “having to balance storytelling and resources you have available to tell that story.” He continues, “There is a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armour, costumes and visual effects needed to give the Gullet, which is arguably the second most anticipated action even to Fire and Blood, the time and the space it deserved. We are building to that event. It will happen very shortly in terms of storytelling. It will be the biggest thing to date we have pulled off. We want to have the time and space to do that at a level that will excite the fans.”
Whilst the show has been renewed for Season 3, it has not yet formally been renewed for Season 4, however, Condal confirmed the plan is to end the series there. The third season will begin pre-production in Autumn 2024, with the aim of going into full production in “early-ish 2025.” Season 3 is not expected to be broadcast until 2026, however, we will have ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ in 2025, based on the “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novellas, to help fill the gap.
‘House Of The Dragon‘ Seasons 1 and 2 can be watched right now via Sky On Demand and streaming service NOW in the UK. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add it via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
