Showrunner Ryan Condal explains how HBO’s House of the Dragon season 2 will be more traditional and like its mothership show, Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon season 2 showrunner Ryan Condal explains how the upcoming season will be more like Game of Thrones than season 1 was. Premiering on HBO last summer, House of the Dragon is based on Fire & Blood by author George R.R. Martin. Season 1 of the show earned mostly strong reviews from audiences and critics alike, chronicling the events that lead to the Targaryen Civil War.
In a recent interview with Collider as production on House of the Dragon season 2 continues, Condal explains how the new season will feature storytelling that is more similar to Game of Thrones. The showrunner reveals that, instead of spending time setting up events and jumping to different points in time, the new season will feature a more traditional unfolding of events as the Targaryen house falls further into disarray. Check out Condal’s full comment below:
“I’m excited to pick up where we left off. Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones. We’ve always talked about this particular tale, George [R.R. Martin] has too, of being a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. This series is very much about a house tearing itself apart from within. Now that all those pieces have been set on the board, I’m really excited to tell the next chapter, to see what happens now that Viserys is gone and no longer keeping a lid on things.”
How House Of The Dragon Season 2 Can Benefit From Being Closer To GOT
House of the Dragon season 1 was generally quite well received, depicting a series of well-rounded and highly flawed characters who are all vying for power. Season 1 did, however, feature several time jumps, which involved introducing new actors to play Rhaenyra and Alicent, the younger versions of whom were played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey. Although Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke’s older versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent were also well-received, it was disappointing to see Alcock and Carey go after several very strong episodes.
By settling into its current time period, House of the Dragon season 2 can dig deeper into what made the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones so appealing. The original show dealt heavily with a slow unfolding of events, chronicling the sometimes brutal consequences of different characters’ actions and the messy political battles for the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones linear progression also allowed for an effective building of tension, especially in relation to the arrival of winter and the army of White Walkers.
Although later seasons of Game of Thrones arguably compressed time too much and didn’t give certain events enough time to breathe, the earlier seasons are widely regarded as some of the most compelling fantasy storytelling ever put to the screen. House of the Dragon hasn’t quite reached Game of Thrones’ level of storytelling yet, but it’s possible that season 2 could change this by adopting a more steady pace. It remains to be seen what House of the Dragon season 2 has in store for audiences, but a slight storytelling change is evidently on the horizon.
