House of the Dragon will be returning for its second season in the summer of 2024, and while there is no specific release date yet, the buzz is beginning to grow quite loud – and rightly so. As seen in the first trailer released for season 2, all of Westeros and mainly House Targaryen will reel from a war between kin. While possibly hard at work on finishing the sixth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, author George R.R. Martin took to his blog to document his most recent trip to London and all Westerosi related activity that came with it.
The Game of Thrones author’s trip included seeing his publisher, the team behind taking fans on the adventures in Westeros and, for luckily for Martin, screening the first two episodes of the coming season. Writing about his trip, Martin recapped on his blog, “The highlight of the trip … had to be the sneak preview that [showrunner] Ryan [Condal] gave me of the first two episodes of ‘House of the Dragon,’ Season 2. (Rough cuts, of course).” Remember, House of the Dragon Season 1 ended with the shocking death of Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault), the son of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), at the hands of Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and his fire-breathing steed, Vhagar.
Now Martin, who is responsible for creating this little world called Westeros wherein dragons dance, has described the immediate aftermath of that event in the first episodes as – dark, powerful, gut-wrenching and emotional. Adding on the blog post, “Of course, I am hardly objective when talking about anything based on my own work… but I have to say, I thought both episodes were just great. (And they are not even finished yet.) Dark, mind you. Very dark. They may make you cry. (I did not cry myself, but one of my friends did.) Powerful, emotional, gut-wrenching, heart rending. Just the sort of thing I like. (What can I say? I was weaned on Shakespeare, and love the tragedies and history plays best of all.)”
The Groundwork for Season 3 and 4 is Being Laid
While there is much excitement regarding the show’s sophomore season, Martin also revealed that his trip to London meant he, alongside showrunner Ryan Condal and his writing staff, “spent two days locked in a room” and the time was spent “talking about the third and fourth seasons of ‘House of the Dragon.’” While the prequel series has not been renewed for a third and fourth season, Martin had previously suggested going that far to fully tell the story and chances are high that it would. So Condal and Martin are seeking to take the initiative, with the author revealing about these early discussions, “They were lively, fun discussions, and we got some good work done… though two days was not nearly enough. There is so much ground to cover that I am not sure 20 days would have been enough.”
HBO premieres Season 2 of House of the Dragon in 2024. A specific release date is yet to be announced.
via Collider