House of the Dragon director Clare Kilner has explained why Season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel series is two episodes shorter than the first season, emphasizing the reason is largely story-driven.
Kilner told The Hollywood Reporter that showrunner Ryan Condal decided to reduce the second season of House of the Dragon to eight episodes instead of 10 because he felt the story would benefit from a short episode count as it would ensure better pacing and a solid beginning and ending to the 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," Kilner said of the new season. "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."
Condal previously likened the second season of House of the Dragon to the "middle run of Game of Thrones", explaining that the slower-paced first season invested time in the characters to allow for more "spectacle" in the follow-up. Kilner said each director is bringing their own unique flair to the show, especially Alan Taylor.
"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 said. "We can't help it; we're all a bit competitive. So, Alan 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."
Taylor served as a director on seven episodes of Game of Thrones, including the critically acclaimed "Baelor" in Season 1 and "Beyond the Wall" in Season 7. According to THR, Taylor is helming "multiple episodes" in Season 2 of the House of the Dragon, bringing another chapter of George R.R. Martin's Westeros tale to life.
House of the Dragon's source material, Fire & Blood, is a lengthy novel that covers roughly 150 years of history, concluding with the climactic Dance of the Dragons. Martin has already said the show will need at least four seasons to do justice to his book, and HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi, appears to be in agreement.
"George and Ryan are going to meet after the writers' strike," she revealed in May. "They had originally planned to meet before the strike took place, and that was to figure out at what point the series itself was going to end. Is it four seasons? I don't think, from where I sit at this point will be any less than four. But could be more."
While HBO has not yet finalized the length of the series, the network is apparently considering greenlighting a third season, allowing the show's creators to take a "big picture" approach rather than moving from season to season. But, for now, the focus is very much on the second season and its expected premiere in 2024.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
