House of the Dragon season 2 director Clare Kilner discussed a few extra details about the upcoming installment of the HBO series.
As fans of the Game of Thrones spinoff series House of the Dragon wait patiently for the show’s second season, one of the project’s directors has given a new sliver of detail regarding the second outing.
Similarly based on the work of George R.R. Martin in that it loosely adapts his 2018 work Fire and Blood, House of the Dragon is a Game of Thrones spinoff that takes place nearly 2 centuries before the events depicted in the Song of Ice and Fire book series that was adapted into the original HBO series. The series centers around the succession war known as the Dance of the Dragons, a series of events that eventually led to the downfall of House Targaryen. Despite the sour reception to the final season and ending of its predecessor, the prequel was so anticipated that the House of the Dragon premiere crashed HBO Max.
This immense and instant success led to House of the Dragon being renewed for a second season almost as soon as it started, with fans eagerly anticipating the next facet of the story. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, director Clare Kilner discussed some interesting details about the show’s second season, starting with the directorial approach for the new season. “It’s very inspiring because there are five directors and they’re all different, and we’re all watching the dailies and commenting on one another’s work,” Kilner explains. “We can’t help it, we’re all a bit competitive. So, Alan [Taylor] helps us up our game. He’s such an accomplished director, and I really love the way he uses depth of field and focus in his storytelling to bring viewers’ attention to certain elements in the frame. I’ve been watching that and going, ‘How can I evolve in that direction?'”
Kilner, whose previous work includes shows like Pennyworth, a Batman prequel canceled by HBO Max after three seasons, also explained House of the Dragon’s second season moving from the existing 10-episode format from the first season. “There are eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour. Ryan’s decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they’re jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events.” While fans might not like the idea of a shorter season, the condensed nature of the show will certainly help it get through production earlier, as it is one of the few major shows still in production as the double strikes carry on.
The decision to shorten the season from creator Ryan Condal will likely challenge everyone involved with the show to do more with less, including his new co-showrunner Alan Taylor, who took over after the original House of the Dragon co-showrunner stepped down ahead of the second season and took up an executive producer role instead. As for the actors, Kilner reveals that everyone has returned to set with a more settled attitude after the success and critical acclaim of the first season. “They’ve come in this season more relaxed, and there’s a sense of family,” the director explains. “Everybody knows one another and wants to do good work, and they know their characters so much better.”
The show has a lot going for it on the strength of the first season’s highly praised overall execution, with franchise progenitor Martin even outlining what House of the Dragon did better than Game of Thrones in his opinion after the first season’s run. With such a strong start and the lesson of its predecessor’s fall from grace in the series’ final moments, it will be interesting to see how high House of the Dragon can fly.
