When is House of the Dragon Season 2 coming out? Everything we know about the second season

Season 1 of House of the Dragon has been a massive success. HBO officially approved the renewal of Season 1 five days after its premiere due to the impressive audience for the first episode. The show garnered almost 10 million viewers on its first night, making it the largest audience ever for an HBO show. Over the first five days, it attracted over 20 million viewers on linear, streaming, and on-demand services.

It made it to the list of the best television shows of 2022. After the completion of Season 1, fans eagerly anticipate what’s to come in Season 2. Though there is no official release date, we can expect the next season to come out by 2024. Here’s every update on the next season and what we can expect going forward.

Quick answer: Despite the WGA writers’ strike, House of the Dragon is on track for a 2024 release. The final release date has not been confirmed, but we can expect it to be in the second half of the year, possibly October 2024, just as Season 1 came out in October 2022.

So far, on House of the Dragon

Princess Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone to inform the Black faction of King Viserys’ death and Aegon II’s crowning. Daemon suspects murder, and the news stress sends Rhaenyra into labor. With Jacaerys by his side, Daemon rallies troops while Rhaenyra gives birth alone, resulting in a stillborn baby.

Erryk Cargyll arrives with Viserys’ crown and swears allegiance to Rhaenyra as the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Daemon places the crown upon her head, and all gathered bend the knee to her. Meanwhile, Otto Hightower, Hand of the King, arrives via ship with terms for Rhaenyra, but Daemon refuses his offer and is ready to kill Otto. But, he provides Rhaenyra with a gesture of goodwill from Alicent – a page from a history book they read together as children.

Rhaenyra considers the terms while Corlys and Rhaenys pledge allegiance to her. She sends Jacaerys and Lucerys to secure support from individual kingdoms. Jacaerys departs for The Eyrie and Winterfell, while Lucerys flies to Storm’s End to meet with Lord Borros Baratheon. Aemond has already arrived at Storm’s End and promised to marry one of Borros’ daughters in exchange for Baratheon support.

Borros rejects Lucerys’ offer as he is already betrothed to Rhaena Targaryen. Lucerys attempts to leave, but Aemond seeks payback. Against Aemond’s commands, Vhagar kills both Arrax and Lucerys. Daemon informs Rhaenyra of Lucerys’ death, and peace is out of the question, leading to war.

Read Next: What can we expect from House of the Dragon Season 2?

A Timeline of House of the Dragon season 2 Updates

• August 2022:
  HBO renewed House of the Dragon for a second season shortly after the show’s premiere broke records for the premium cable channel. Francesca Orsi, HBO’s EVP of programming, expressed pride in the team’s accomplishments with Season 1. Miguel Sapochnik announced that he would remain an executive producer for the show, and Ryan Condal will take over as the sole showrunner. Sapochnik expressed his decision to move on as a tough one but the right choice for him personally and professionally.
• September 2022:
  Spanish newspaper Hoy reported that HBO would film King’s Landing scenes for season 2 in Cáceres, Spain, from March to June 2023.
• October 2022:
  Casey Bloys, the chief content officer for HBO and HBO Max, said to Vulture that he expected the release of the show’s second season in 2024. Bloys stated that they were currently in the early stages of planning. Like the first season, he said many unknown factors could affect the timeline. He emphasized that they do not want to make any promises they cannot keep. He said they would not announce a release date until they were confident in their ability to deliver.
• October 2022: 
  Ryan Condal stated in an interview with Variety that the writing for Season 2 had already begun during the post-production stage of Season 1. This overlap was necessary to keep up with the fans’ desire for material and HBO’s need for a reasonable timeframe between seasons. As a result, the team has to move into making Season 2 meet these demands.
• October 2022:
  Author George R.R. Martin stated on his blog that there is much more story to cover. He estimated it would take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons from start to finish.
• February 2023:
  Casey Bloys told Variety that the second season of House of the Dragon would miss the 2024 Emmy Awards deadline. He also said that more Game of Thrones spinoffs were in the works.
• March 2023:
  House Of The Dragon Season 2 scripts are ready, confirms Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Abu Dhabi.
• March 2023:
  George R.R. Martin said he wasn’t impressed with the dragons in Game of Thrones, as he found them all the same. But, the dragons he saw in House of the Dragon were truly impressive, as they had personalities and came alive. Ryan Condal shared that there will be five new dragons in season 2, which is expected to begin production shortly.
• March 2023:
  According to the Film & Television Industry Alliance’s Production List, season 2 started filming on March 6th. The filming will happen in London and Spain. The special effects and post-production needed for the episodes may delay the release until late 2024.
• March 2023:
  HBO might have cut Maelor Taragryen, Aegon and Helaena’s third child, from the show.
• March 2023:
  House Of The Dragon will have just eight episodes instead of 10, according to a new report.
• April 2023:
  David Hancock, who served as an executive producer in the first season of House of The Dragon, will now be serving as a writer as well, according to his agency’s website.
• April 2023:
  House of the Dragon Season 2 begins production.
• April 2023:
  New Harrenhal scenes being shot at Leavesden Studios.
• April 2023:
  House of The Dragon adds 4 new cast members, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, and Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull.
• April 2023:
  House of The Dragon Season 2 to begin filming in Spain on May 18th.
• April 2023:
  House of The Dragon Season 2 might wrap up filming quicker than Season 1.
• May 2023:
  Filming on Season 2 of House of The Dragon will continue despite the WGA writers’ strike.

House Of The Dragon Season 2 release date and more

Though the final release date has not been confirmed, the likelihood is that we will see the release of Season 2 by 2024. Since the release will miss the Emmy nominations that year, the next season will likely release in the latter part of the year. Just as Season 1 came out in October of 2022, we can reasonably estimate that Season 2 will release around the same time in 2024.

The events of season 2 will cover the civil war extensively. Time jumps will no longer happen, and the show’s pace will slow considerably. All the characters that survived season 1 are expected to return for season 2. Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly that season 2 would be more significant and epic than season 1.

He said this season would explore the characters’ motivations and the consequences of their actions even further. Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who played young Rhaenyra and Alicent, will not return for season 2. Ryan Condal confirmed this by saying the characters are not part of the current storyline.

Cast for Season 2

It’s most likely that all the characters that survived the first season from the main cast will also return for Season 2. This will include all members of the royal family, both Greens and Blacks and the various characters that had a major role to play in Season 1.

The one thing that we cannot be certain of is whether characters that are presumed dead will return or not. It is most likely that Sonoya Mizuno will return to the role of Mysaria, The White Worm, as she plays a major role in the books much later in the Dance of the Dragons as well. Another character that is presumed dead is Ser Laenor Velaryon. Whether or not he will return during Season 2 is anyone’s guess, as his faked death was not part of the books, and he may possibly return in some form in future seasons.

There have also been multiple casting rumors that have been unconfirmed. The largest of these is the casting of Emily Beecham as Alys Rivers, whose leaked audition tape caused the internet to be abuzz with news for a long time. Despite this, her involvement has not been confirmed, but we can be assured that the character of Alys Rivers will be appearing in future seasons.

Another casting rumor is for the role of Cregan Stark, the current Lord of Winterfell. We can definitely expect this character to appear next season, as he will be interacting with Jacaerys Velaryon to form the Pact of Ice and Fire. Actor Leo Suter from Vikings Valhalla is rumored to be cast for this role, though it is not confirmed.

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