When the initial ten-episode run of House of the Dragon hit screens on August 21, 2022, a lot of the discussion surrounded other shows. There was the $1 billion fellow fantasy show The Rings of Power being made by Prime Video, drawing from the forever-beloved works of J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the legacy of the show that House of the Dragon would play as the prequel to, Game of Thrones.
The conversation very quickly pivoted after the first couple of episodes from House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, however. House of the Dragon managed to hit viewership numbers akin to seasons one to six of Game of Thrones, The Rings of Power could only land 15th overall in the Nielsen streaming originals rankings, and it was reported that only 37 percent of people who watched the first episode made it to the end.
House of the Dragon won the battle of big-budget fantasy shows in 2022, both for viewership and during awards season, and after its crunching conclusion, viewers have been clamouring for its return. It’s almost like the good old days of Game of Thrones.
Filming begins and new characters are named
It’s time to return to King’s Landing.
Season 2 of #HouseoftheDragon is now in production. pic.twitter.com/lGSQSq6oK9— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) April 11, 2023
On April 11, it was officially announced that House of the Dragon (HotD) Season 2 was officially in production, with filming beginning in London soon after. Outlets have also reported filming as taking place at the fictional location of Harrenhal, which is said to be Carncastle in Northern Ireland. It’s currently under the rule of Lord Larys Strong after he crafted the demise of his father and brother within its supposedly cursed walls.
Harrenhal will also likely be where the new character Alys Rivers is introduced. She’ll be played by Gayle Rankin as one of four newly announced additions to the cast. Along with Rankin, Simon Russell Beale will play the great-uncle of Lord Larys Strong, Ser Simon Strong, as well as Otto Hightower’s son, Ser Gwayne Hightower, played by Freddie Fox.
Potentially the most important newcomers looks to be Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull. The name doesn’t suggest as much, but Alyn is primed to play a key part in the succession debate of House Velaryon. Those who have read Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin will spot that each of these characters coming into the second season has a major role to play in the soon-to-be raging civil war.
Ryan Condal, who’s now the sole showrunner, has said in interviews that the upcoming season will be more akin to the rhythm of action and tragedy experienced in the middle of Game of Thrones (GoT), with a bit more natural levity shining through after the somewhat slower and more serious opening to the story.
Renewed faith in Westeros
The final two seasons of GoT didn’t go down too well with a large portion of its colossal following, particularly due to writing decisions. In the final season, particularly, what was targeted as the TV show’s grand crescendo episode, The Bells, fell flat because of wasted opportunities and plot holes. Of course, from the beginning, the “big bad” was meant to be the Night King and its coming winter, but the dead-raising, climate change parallel antagonist was actually just a mid-tier heavy.
This is a legacy that HotD had to contend with just a few years later, with so many people and critics swearing off the return to Westeros before it even began. Luckily for the showrunners and HBO, the writing was excellent and performances even better. It was around episode five of the first season that the building of the characters, back story, and stakes shifted into the run towards the conflict that’ll shape the second season, and it was done brilliantly.
For all of the damage done by the last two seasons, HotD managed to win back at least a portion of those who were disillusioned, and you can even see people returning to the first show set in Westeros to experience at least its early-season thrills. The prequel’s success could also be cited as the reason behind the bounce back and expansion of GoT in other entertainment mediums. GoT has long had online slots to play and more recently, the 243-ways GoT Power Stacks video slot and the Must Win Jackpot Link & Win edition of GoT Power Stacks have become hit titles among players.
All of those games saw an uptick in players towards the end of 2022 and into 2023. The comic book adaptations, and subsequent graphic novel collections, of Martin’s A Clash of Kings (the second of A Song of Ice and Fire) also continued to do well into late 2022. Released annually in graphic novel volumes, the concluding Volume Four hit the shelves in October 2022, with the series garnering a score of 7/10 by review aggregators.
With an average of 29 million viewers per episode and 9.3 million on the day of the finale, HotD was a tremendous success that, thanks to critical and viewer appraisal, will almost certainly command a larger audience in Season 2. Best of all, it’s brought back the adoration for the TV adaptation of Martin’s deftly-crafted fantasy world.
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