The civil war between the Targaryens won’t get as much screen time next year.
Deadline reports that the episode order for House of the Dragon Season 2 has been cut to eight episodes, which is two less than House of the Dragon Season 1’s episode count.
The decision did not come from HBO, the outlet reports.
Instead, 10 episodes were planned for the second season, but the arc has changed, leading to script rewrites, and the creatives have landed on an eight-part season.
With the decision, the outlet reports that a major battle and other plot points previously planned for the second season have been moved to House of the Dragon Season 3.
The third season has yet to land a formal pickup at HBO, but it’s moving in the right direction, and there’s a good chance the third season renewal will come sooner rather than later.
House of the Dragon Season 1 was a wild success story for HBO and HBO Max upon its launch in the Summer of 2022.
From the beginning, it’s been expected the show will only span three to four seasons to tell the story of the undoing of House Targaryen.
House of the Dragon stars Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans.
Shortly after the show was renewed in August, it was revealed that Miguel Sapochnik, who served as co-showrunner, would be stepping away from the show.
“Working within the Thrones universe for the past few years has been an honor and a privilege, especially spending the last two with the amazing cast and crew of House of the Dragon,” Sapochnik said in a statement.
“I am so proud of what we accomplished with Season 1 and overjoyed by the enthusiastic reaction of our viewers.”
“It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally.”
What are your thoughts on the show losing two episodes and moving a battle to the third season?
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.