House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal explains why the season 2 finale did not culminate with the massive Battle of the Gullet. The battle is a pivotal event that occurs during Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, which serves as the source material for House of the Dragon. Season 2 had set the stage for the highly-anticipated battle with the ongoing blockade established by Corlys Velaryon and the preparations made by his fleet, while Tyland Lannister forged an alliance with the Triarchy to break the blockade.
Per IGN, moderator Joanna Robinson asked Condal during a virtual Q&A with the press to break down why the Battle of the Gullet was not featured in the season 2 finale, and his approach to bringing fantasy battles to life. Condal spoke about the “tremendous amount of resources” needed for this event and how he is “trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves. And obviously, as anyone who has seen the finale [knows], we are building to that.” Check out the rest of his response below:
I mean, one of the challenges of making television at any scale, even this scale, which seems to be one of infinite time and resources, it’s just never the case. Nobody has infinite time and resources. As a showrunner, you’re always in the position of having to balance storytelling and the resources you have available to tell that story, and you’re also starting to think about — and one of the things that came into play in Season 2 — is, what is the final destination of this series and where are we going? And I think it was a combination of factors that led us to rebalance the story, knowing where we’re going and where that endpoint is, to rebalance the story in such a way that we had three great seasons of television [after Season 1]… to round out and tell this story.
That event (the Battle of the Gullet) will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling in House of the Dragon. And it should be, based on what we know now, it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off. And we just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it deserves. And we also wanted to build some anticipation towards it.
The Battle Of The Gullet Wouldn’t Have Worked In The Season 2 Finale
Too Much Setup Was Still Required
As thrilling as it would have been to see the Battle of the Gullet in the House of the Dragon season 2 finale, it would not have worked well. Before Corlys and Alyn of Hull sailed into this battle together, they needed to have an honest and uncomfortable conversation about the history of their relationship, and how this impacts their dynamics moving forward. This was handled well in the episode, bringing a satisfying conclusion to Alyn and Corlys’ season 2 arcs, and setting up their roles in the Battle of the Gullet for season 3.
On the other side of the looming battle, the Greens did not even have an alliance with the Triarchy at the beginning of the finale. Given the importance of this partnership, the episode needed to spend time showing how the alliance was forged, along with establishing the dynamics between Tyland and the Triarchy’s Lohar. In addition to the fleets, the series needed to handle the story of the dragonriders who will be involved with the battle, along with resolving other lingering threads from the season, including Rhaenyra Targaryen’s relationships with Daemon Targaryen and Alicent Hightower.
House of the Dragon already featured a massive battle sequence earlier in season 2 with the Battle at Rook’s Rest. Most Game of Thrones’ seasons only included one colossal battle, such as the Battle of Blackwater in season 2, or the Battle of the Bastards in season 6. House of the Dragon follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, with the key difference being that the major battles sometimes take place earlier in the season instead of toward the end of it.