“House of the Dragon,” the prequel to “Game of Thrones,” is one of the most talked-about TV shows since, well, “Game of Thrones.” After just one episode of the first season aired on August 21, 2022, HBO officially picked up the show for a second season.
Let’s start with the simple facts. According to HBO, nearly 20 million people in the US watched the premiere of “House of the Dragon” across all platforms. That makes it the first episode of a new HBO series with the most viewers ever. The Hollywood Reporter says that 19.3 million people watched the series finale of “Game of Thrones” in 2019 across all platforms, which was the most people who watched an episode of “Game of Thrones” in one night.
Those numbers probably would have been enough to justify a second season on their own, but the show is also very popular. HBO makes a lot of money off of the “Game of Thrones” brand, which is not just a TV show but also a chance for a huge network of related products. “Fire and Blood,” the book by George R.R. Martin that inspired the series, has a lot of stories that could be used, and it looks like we’ll be getting to see more of them soon.
In a statement on WarnerMedia’s press site, Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO programming, said, “We are so proud of what the whole ‘House of the Dragon’ team has done with season one.” “Our amazing cast and crew took on a huge challenge and blew away everyone’s expectations, making a show that has already become must-see TV. A huge thank you to [cocreator and executive producer George R.R. Martin, cocreator, executive producer, and showrunner Ryan Condal, and showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik] for taking us on this journey. With season two, we’re even more excited to bring the epic story of House Targaryen to life.”
No specifics about the second season have been released yet. But HBO Max Content CEO Casey Bloys told Variety in February that it’s “a good guess” that “House of the Dragon” will come back “sometime in 2024,” but he didn’t give an exact date.
“A good script is the most important thing to me,” he told the publication. “I’m not doing it because I want one or two babies a year. I want to do it based on the scripts we’re looking forward to.”
