House of the Dragon Season 2 is just weeks away, and while the show is returning with less episodes, its premiere’s runtime should ease fans’ concerns.
The Game of Thrones prequel’s first season ended in breathtakingly catastrophic style: Aemond pursued Lucerys through the lightning-cracked skies of Storm’s End, eventually losing control of Vhagar and chomping his nephew and Arrax to death. In its closing moments, the Dance of the Dragons officially began.
That was nearly two years ago. On June 16, House of the Dragon Season 2 will finally premiere on HBO, but there’s a catch: there’ll only be eight episodes this time, as opposed to the usual 10-episode complement.
This may sting a little, given the civil war has literally just kicked off and there’s still a considerable amount of story to cover from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. But don’t worry, because it looks like we could be in for a run of long episodes.
Episode 1 will be 64 minutes long. While runtimes haven’t been confirmed for the other seven episodes, it’s a good omen looking ahead. Feature-length episodes aren’t out of the question, particularly with the last two episodes.
For context, here’s the runtimes for every episode in Season 1:
Episode 1: 66 min
Episode 2: 54 min
Episode 3: 58 min
Episode 4: 63 min
Episode 5: 60 min
Episode 6: 68 min
Episode 7: 58 min
Episode 8: 67 min
Episode 9: 60 min
Episode 10: 63 min
To be clear, Season 2 isn’t shorter for budgetary reasons. “It is part of a long-term plan for the show, which includes HBO mulling a green light for a third season,” Deadline earlier reported, with Martin helping Ryan Condal to figure out “how to break up the stories season-to-season and what battles to include and when.”
Whether or not the other episodes will be just as long remains unclear, but fans are excited anyway. “As it should be. Finally some good f**king food,” one wrote. “The longer the episode the happier I am,” another commented.
In the meantime, check out our extensive recap of House of the Dragon Season 1, our breakdown of every Targaryen king in order, and the wildest House of the Dragon fan fiction to read before Season 2. You can also find other binge-worthy TV shows to add to your watch list.