How Many Episodes Will Be in 'House of the Dragon'?
House of the Dragon has us all in its clutches right now, and it will stay that way for eight more weeks. The Game of Thrones spinoff was ordered to series with 10 episodes in Season 1. That means we'll be seeing a new episode every Sunday night through Oct. 23, 2022.
House of the Dragon is not shy about flaunting its connection to the global fantasy sensation Game of Thrones, but it makes changes where it needs to as well. One of the things fans famously disliked most about the ending of Game of Thrones was the way it reduced the number of episodes in its last few seasons. The show had 10 episodes per season in its first six seasons, but Season 7 had just seven episodes. Season 8 was even shorter with just six episodes, leaving many fans disappointed.
This is clearly a mistake HBO does not intend to make again. House of the Dragon was ordered straight to series with a 10-episode order back in 2019, and so far it has packed each hour with dense storytelling. A few days after the series premiere, HBO renewed it for a second season as well. HBO did not confirm how many episodes the second season would have, but hopefully, it will have at least 10, as well.
Assuming the show sticks to this convention, fans may only get 30 or 40 episodes of the series in total. Series co-creator and co-showrunner Ryan Condal told The Hollywood Reporter that he intends to plot out this current storyline for three or four seasons of TV. However, he also said that if HBO is willing, he would like to continue the series after that with different episodes from Westerosi history.
House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's latest book, Fire & Blood, which is an "imaginary history book" relaying about 130 years' worth of the Seven Kingdoms' history. It covers the time of the Targaryen conquest through the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons – the show's current focus. Condal said that he could imagine this title taking on a completely different period in Martin's fictional history.
"The Targaryens span both directions," pointed out co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik. "So as a spine to other possible stories and spinoffs... this is a great place to start."
Meanwhile, HBO continues to develop other shows in Westeros – at least four other live-action shows and at least two animated shows. This could be the beginning of some serious franchise potential for Martin's writing. For now, House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.