Spoilers follow ahead Game of Thrones and George RR Martin’s novel ‘Fire and Blood’.
House of the Dragon season 2 will not be full of “major dragon-related events”, according to the showrunner.
Speaking to Ny Breaking, Ryan Condal admitted that the creative team behind the hit Max show didn’t want to move the narrative needle too far in the direction of ‘action spectacle’. Finally, House of the Dragon – and the parent show Game of Thrones – have built their reputation as a TV series full of political schemes, inter-family backstabbing and ripe melodrama in the fantastical setting of Westeros.
That does not mean Game of Thrones and the prequel series is devoid of incredibly designed, stunt-filled, and brutal set pieces. And with House of the Dragon season 2 officially marks the start of the bloody, year-long Targaryen civil war – also known as The Dance of the Dragons – there will be plenty of barbaric battles to enjoy and watch this season House of the Dragon‘s recently announced third season.
However, Condal wants to emphasize that the second season of one of the best Max shows will not be a matter of action. Indeed, forcing audiences to sit through eight episodes of non-stop fighting would not only be exhausting, but exhausting. Finding a balance between House of the Dragon‘s riveting Machiavellian drama and show-stopping set pieces (as detailed in “Fire and Blood,” Martin’s book summarizing the Targaryen dynasty) were then key to keeping audiences engaged throughout Season 2.
“It’s tricky,” Condal said when I asked him about the difficulties of not only doing justice to The Dance of the Dragons’ massive battles, but also combining them with the series’ other compelling plot threads. “The characters 200 years in the future (in Game of Thrones) regularly refer to the events in this story. And not just the big dragon-related events – there are also smaller conflicts and many betrayals that are part of the cultural heritage of Westeros.”
What leads to the world Daenarys inherits?
Ryan Condal
“Six years ago, when George told me this was what he wanted Thrones‘Becoming a successor was very exciting for me. Even though no one survived this period, because of the time in between House of the Dragon And Thronesis the cultural relevance of this event to the original series so strong.
“At the end of this brutal period we come to The Dying of the Dragons. It doesn’t happen all at once, but this is what leads to the world Daenarys (Targaryen) inherits (in Game of Thrones), where there are no more dragons. Then you have the fact that winter is coming, the threat of the White Walkers. The only power that can stop them is fire and so on, so that’s what attracted me to this story.”
“You want to make them feel the wins and losses.”
Okay, so how House of the Dragon season 2 brings the big action scenes of The Dance of the Dragons to life without them overshadowing the wonderfully rollicking melodrama? Firstly, you still get plenty of screen time for said scenes, but, as Condal explained, the secret is combining character-based elements, devious or otherwise, into the action itself.
“You have to characterize that stuff,” he added. “If you’re just telling history, it can feel dry and objective. You want to draw viewers into the subjective experience and make them feel all the victories and losses. The way you do that is by creating characters that people care about. , telling that historical story from a specific person’s point of view, and seeing not just how it happens, but how it affects him and his emotional state.
Based on what I’ve seen of the show’s latest chapter, it certainly does all of that. For more information, read my spoiler-free review of House of the Dragon the first four episodes of season 2. Then check out more from my conversation with Condal, who defended the decision to tell it House of the Dragon the story of season 2 over eight episodes instead of ten.
House of the Dragon season 2 premieres on Max (US) on Sunday, June 16. It will also air on Sky/Now TV (UK) and Foxtel/Binge (Australia) on Monday 17 June.