The second season of the American fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon premiered on HBO on June 16, 2024, in the United States and concluded on August 4, 2024. It consists of eight episodes, each of approximately one hour. Like the first season, it covers the events of the book Fire & Blood, a prequel novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. The season was ordered on August 26, 2022, five days after the premiere of the series. Miguel Sapochnik, a showrunner on the first season, departed after the season, leaving Ryan Condal as the sole showrunner. The s
The second season of the American fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon premiered on HBO on June 16, 2024, in the United States and concluded on August 4, 2024. It consists of eight episodes, each of approximately one hour. Like the first season, it covers the events of the book Fire & Blood, a prequel novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. The season was ordered on August 26, 2022, five days after the premiere of the series. Miguel Sapochnik, a showrunner on the first season, departed after the season, leaving Ryan Condal as the sole showrunner. The s
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The second season of the American fantasy drama television series House of the Dragon premiered on HBO on June 16, 2024, in the United States and concluded on August 4, 2024. It consists of eight episodes, each of approximately one hour. Like the first season, it covers the events of the book Fire & Blood, a prequel novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. The season was ordered on August 26, 2022, five days after the premiere of the series. Miguel Sapochnik, a showrunner on the first season, departed after the season, leaving Ryan Condal as the sole showrunner. The second season was filmed from April to September 2023, filming alongside the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike due to its largely British cast working under British Equity rules.
The season follows in the aftermath of the first season's final episodes, in which Aegon II Targaryen was planted on the Iron Throne after the death of his father King Viserys I Targaryen, causing House Targaryen to become divided. Aegon II rules from King's Landing, supported by the Green Council and his mother Alicent Hightower, while his half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen and the Black Council plot in exile from Dragonstone. Both sides seek allies from the great houses of Westeros, fighting for the support of their armies to claim their rightful positions to the Iron Throne.
House of the Dragon features a large ensemble cast, including established actors such as Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Matthew Needham, and Sonoya Mizuno. Milly Alcock, who portrayed a younger version of D'Arcy's character in the first season, appears in a guest role. Critics praised the character development, visual effects, writing, Ramin Djawadi's score, and performances (particularly Smith, D’Arcy and Cooke). The second season won Best Fantasy Television Series at the Saturn Awards, while Emma D'Arcy earned a Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama nomination. The season premiere was watched by over 7 million viewers across the linear channels and HBO Max upon its release. A third season was ordered in June 2024.
Development
On August 26, 2022, less than a week after its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. On August 31, Miguel Sapochnik stepped down as director and co-showrunner for the second season, but remained an executive producer. Sapochnik stated, "It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally." Alan Taylor, who directed Game of Thrones episodes, joined in season two and serves as an executive producer and director. Following the second season renewal, Bloys stated that it was expected to premiere in 2024. Hess told Variety in late December 2022 that most of season 2 had been written and would include a revenge plot against Alicent following the events of the first-season finale. The second season consists of eight episodes and premiered on June 16, 2024. On his personal blog in December 2023, Martin stated the third and fourth seasons are being written. A third season was ordered in June 2024.
Casting
The majority of the cast from the first season returned for the second. In April 2023, Gayle Rankin, Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, and Abubakar Salim were announced to have joined the cast for the second season as Alys Rivers, Simon Strong, Gwayne Hightower and Alyn of Hull, respectively. In December 2023, Tom Taylor, Clinton Liberty, Jamie Kenna, Kieran Bew, Tom Bennett, and Vincent Regan were announced to have joined the cast for the second season as Cregan Stark, Addam of Hull, Alfred Broome, Hugh Hammer, Ulf White and Rickard Thorne, respectively.
Filming
The second season began filming on April 11, 2023, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Watford, England, and moved to Cáceres, Spain on May 18, 2023. The series continued filming throughout the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Despite the show originating in the United States, the largely British cast works under local rules governed by the sister union Equity. Filming wrapped by September 29, 2023.
Music
Ramin Djawadi returned to compose the score for the second season. The 31-track score album was released by WaterTower Music on August 4, 2024, the day that the season finale premiered.
Broadcast
The second season premiered on June 16, 2024. The second-season finale was also leaked online, with HBO releasing a statement stating the leak originated from a "third-party distributor".
International broadcast
In New Zealand, the series is distributed by Sky's SoHo TV channel and Neon streaming service. In the Philippines, SKY broadcasts the show via its main cable television services and other digital streaming platforms. In India, JioHotstar distributes the show. In the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the series airs on Sky Atlantic and its accompanying streaming service Now. In Canada, House of the Dragon is available on Bell Media's Crave streaming service and its HBO linear channel. In Australia, the series is available for streaming on Binge and Foxtel.
Home media
The second season was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray (including a SteelBook special edition), standard Blu-ray, and DVD on November 19, 2024.
Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 84% based on 283 reviews, with an average rating of 7.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Approaching its dynastic cataclysm with a deliberate stride rather than a charging gallop, House of the Dragon carefully sets up its emotional stakes to make the fiery spectacle all the more scorching." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the second season received a score of 73 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Viewership
Season 2 had a debut of 7.8 million viewers across linear and streaming on its Sunday night premiere, which was a 22% viewership decline from the previous season which had 10 million. In Latin America, viewership
