‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2: Premiere Date Update & More News You Need to Know

Let the Dance of the Dragons begin. is coming back for a second season. And rest assured, it will be epic. HBO announced on April 11, 2023, that season 2 was officially in production. The show has continued to film the second season amid the . The team explained why the show was able to film despite other productions being put on hold amid the strikes.

Now we have an idea of when season 2 will premiere — thanks to — and it’s not far off. “ has returned. We are thrilled to be shooting again with members of our original family as well as new talents on both sides of the camera,” co creator, showrunner/executive producer said in an April 2023 statement.

“All your favorite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies, and riding their dragons into battle. We can’t wait to share what we have in store.” The hit HBO series and prequel got the season 2 greenlight back in August 2022, just days after its premiere.

, which dropped in December 2023 at CCXP, teased all the mayhem to come in season 2. “The war will be fought, many will die, and the victor will eventually ascend the throne,” Alicent says in the trailer. season 2 doesn’t have an exact premiere date yet, but HBO confirmed in November 2023 that season 2 would premiere in summer 2024.

HBO network chief Casey Bloys revealed during a press event that the second season would debut in “early summer,” according to . In January 2024, divulged new information about the season 2 premiere. The actor revealed on that season 2 will premiere in “August, I think.” He didn’t give a specific date, but he said definitely “summer” 2024.

HBO and HBO Max content CEO told in February 2023 that it was a “good guess” that season 2 would premiere in 2024. He didn’t reveal a specific date or time of year, but he did hint that season 2 wouldn’t be eligible for the 2024 Emmys. The eligibility period for the 2024 Emmys ends on May 31, 2024.

This means that season 2 will likely premiere in summer 2024 or later. When the WGA writers’ strike began in May 2023, didn’t pause filming. Production was able to continue because the scripts for season 2 have been “done for some time,” according to . Showrunner was still on set in a non writing capacity.

“The scripts for the eight s2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began, Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions,” author and executive producer wrote in a .

On July 13, actors who are part of SAG AFTRA, the U.S. labor union, went on strike. This prevented actors from filming projects and promoting them until a new contract was made. However, was not impacted. The prequel series is in a contract production with Equity, the U.K. labor group for actors. Most of the actors are under Equity contracts and not SAG AFTRA, so they are still able to film.

“I am told the second season is half done,” George said in a after the actors’ strike began. “ of the scripts had been finished months before the WGA strike began. No writing has been done since, to the best of my knowledge. is shot mostly in London (and a little bit in Wales, Spain, and various other locations), which is why filming has continued.

The actors are members of the British union, Equity, not SAG AFTRA, and though Equity strongly supports their American cousins (they have a big rally planned to show that support), British law forbids them from staging a sympathy strike. If they walk, they have no protection against being fired for breach of contract, or even sued.” The first season of premiered in August 2022.

If the show does return in summer 2024, that will be a nearly 2 year wait between seasons. “We are beyond proud of what the entire team has accomplished with season 1. Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must see TV.

A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season 2,” , executive vice president of HBO Programming, said in a statement. season 2 will consist of 8 episodes, according to .

The second season will be a shorter season compared to the 10 episode first season. The 8 episode season 2 is part of a “long term plan for the show” after showrunner and author looked at the show as a whole and mapped out the series. The “initial plan” for season 2 was indeed 10 episodes. When that changed, scripts underwent rewrites.

An HBO spokesperson told the outlet that the shorter season was story driven and not part of cost cutting measures for Warner Bros. Discovery. Director weighed in on the shortened season in a new interview with . “There are 8 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,” she said. follows , which tells the history of House Targaryen. The series focuses on the Dance of the Dragons, a deadly civil war within House Targaryen. The first season ended with Prince Aegon II (with the help of his mother Queen Alicent and the Greens) and being crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms in the wake of King Viserys I Targaryen’s death.

King Viserys had previously anointed his eldest child, , as his successor. His decision was met with criticism by many over the idea of a female ruler. After lingering scandal over the legitimacy of her first three children, Rhaenrya left King’s Landing for Dragonstone. By the end of the season, she had , her uncle, and had three more children.

Tragically, Rhaenyra and Daemon’s daughter was stillborn. set the Dance of the Dragons in motion. Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys Velaryon, was sent to Storm’s End as an envoy for the Blacks to raise support for Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne. While in Storm’s End, he crossed paths with Aemond Targaryen.

Aemond had long held a grudge against Lucerys for when they were kids. Aemond taunted Lucerys while on dragonback in the final moments of the finale, and Vhagar accidentally ate Lucerys and his dragon, Arrax. If season 2 continues to follow the timeline of , things are about to get dicey in Westeros.

Here are some of the key moments and a crucial character to look forward to: Blood and Cheese will inevitably be one of the most shocking moments in history. As told in , Blood and Cheese’s actions were a direct response to Lucerys’ death. Blood, a butcher, and Cheese, a ratcatcher, were hired by Daemon to kill Prince Jaehaerys, King Aegon II’s firstborn son and his heir to the Iron Throne.

Blood and Cheese broke into the Red Keep and held Alicent, Helaena, and her three children captive. The captors forced Helaena to choose which of her sons, Jaehaerys or Maelor, would die. Helaena offered her own life, but they refused. She eventually chose her youngest, Maelor, to die, but Blood and Cheese killed Jaehaerys instead.

While there’s no official word about how far into the Dance of the Dragons season 2 will get, it’s likely to feature the Battle at Rook’s Rest. This was a key battle in the Dance that ended in Rhaenys’ death and Aegon II getting severely injured. At the end of the first season, Rhaenyra’s oldest son, Jaehaerys, was sent to Winterfell to meet with Cregan Stark.

During Jace’s time at Winterfell, he and Cregan formed a close bond. Cregan will be a crucial figure down the road. The main characters of season 1 will be back in season 2. This includes as Rhaenrya Targaryen, as Daemon Targaryen, as Alicent Hightower, as Aegon II Targaryen, as Aemond Targaryen, as Jacaerys Velaryon, as Criston Cole, as Otto Hightower, as Corlys Velaryon, as Rhaenys Targaryen, as Larys Strong, as Mysaria, as Erryk Cargyll, as Arryk Cargyll, as Baela Targaryen, and as Rhaena Targaryen.

and will also return as Helaena Targaryen and Ser Tyland Lannister. will play Alys Rivers. She’s supposedly a bastard child of Lord Lyonel Strong and a witch. She comes romantically involved with Aemond Targaryen. will play Ser Simon Strong, Lord Larys Strong’s great uncle. will play Ser Gwayne Hightower, Otto Hightower’s son and Queen Alicent’s brother.

Finally, has joined the cast as Alyn of Hull, a key player going forward who is allegedly Corlys Velaryon’s bastard son. The role of Cregan Stark will be played by . that star may have been cast as Cregan because Fabien and Emma followed him on Instagram. In the end, Tom was cast as the pivotal character.

The first half of season 1 featured breakout stars and as young Rhaenyra and Alicent. When the show flashed forward 10 years, Emma and Olivia took over the roles. Showrunner revealed that Milly and Emily will not be seen in flashbacks in the second season, but he isn’t ruling out a return in the future.

“[They] are not a part of the story that we’re telling yet,” he told . “That’s not a thing that we’re doing right now.” Behind the scenes, there’s been a major shift going into season 2. Director , the show’s co showrunner in season 1, stepped down ahead of the second season. He will still serve as an executive producer moving forward.

, who directed several episodes, has joined the show as an executive producer and is set to direct several season 2 episodes, according to . HBO is already “mulling a green light for a third season” of , according to . The creative team is looking for to run 3 or 4 seasons and has been working on what stories and major battles to include in which season.

Season 3 is reportedly already “mapped out,” and the network is “seriously considering” moving forward with it sooner rather than later. A “portion of the plot” was originally set for season 2, including a major battle, but is now moving into season 3. That major battle is likely the Battle Above the God’s Eye, an epic face off between Daemon and Aemond.

As of right now, it’s looking like will run for a total of 4 seasons. George previously said that he wanted to be able to tell the entire story of the Dance of the Dragons across 4 seasons. “It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish,” the author and show co creator wrote on in October 2022..