House of the Dragon Season 2: Cast, Episode Count, Release Date, Latest News, and More

House of the Dragon more than exceeded expectations in its first season. Sure, some Game of Thrones fans — fine, maybe most — were skeptical of the HBO prequel when it was first announced. But few can deny that the drama about the Targaryen Civil War was one of the best shows of 2022. 

Now, we'll do anything to get back to Westeros for some bitter family feuds. Season 2 won't premiere until 2024, but now that we know more about when to expect it, we can rest easier knowing the dragons are one step closer to our screens.

While we wait, we have plenty of questions. When will House of the Dragon Season 2 air? Who will be in it? How long will it be? We'll answer all those question below. 

Here's everything to know about House of the Dragon Season 2.

Latest House of the Dragon Season 2 news

House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere in early summer 2024, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news was revealed on Nov. 2 by HBO CEO Casey Bloys, who confirmed that the Game of Thrones prequel was still on track to meet its previously proposed release date. Bloys also confirmed that Season 2 will consist of eight episodes, which is two fewer than Season 1's 10 episodes. A trailer was shown to journalists who attended an HBO press conference, so we should expect to see it soon.

House of the Dragon Season 2 release date

On Nov. 2, HBO big cheese Casey Bloys revealed that House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere in "early summer 2024," according to The Hollywood Reporter. That tracks with previous reports and eases fears that the actors and writers strikes would delay the targeted premiere window. 

House of the Dragon Season 2 renewal

It didn't take HBO long at all to renew House of the Dragon for a second season. Five days after the premiere of Season 1, HBO officially gave the green light, referencing the impressive audience for the first episode: the largest audience ever for an HBO show on its first night (almost 10 million), and more than 20 million viewers on linear, streaming, and on-demand services over its first five days. As fast as that renewal was, it took longer than Game of Thrones did to be renewed. Game of Thrones was renewed for a second season just two days after the premiere in 2011. 

While there have been no further season renewals, George R.R. Martin previously said he believes it will take four full 10-episode seasons to tell the story laid out in the books that the series is based on, the two-volume Fire & Blood series. (In March, HBO shortened the episode count to eight for Season 2.)

How many episodes will House of the Dragon Season 2 be?

It looks like House of the Dragon is already going the way of Game of Thrones in its later seasons. Well, in quantity, at least. Hopefully not in quality, too. In March 2023, Deadline reported that Season 2 will run for eight episodes, down a couple from the 10 episodes of Season 1, and HBO CEO Casey Bloys confirmed the episode count on Nov. 2, 2023. While some may rightfully point toward HBO's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery continuing to cut costs as a likely reason for the season shortening, reps from HBO insist that the decision was story-driven. The silver lining here is that shortening Season 2 because of story also means that a Season 3 renewal is more likely, and that the series could run for four seasons to get through the source material.  

House of the Dragon Season 2 cast

Following several time jumps that saw characters age out of their actors, things should slow down as Season 2 focuses more on the Dance of the Dragons, otherwise known as the Targaryen civil war. We're also going to be introduced to a slew of characters. On April 24, Variety reported that Gayle Rankin has been cast as Alys Rivers in House of the Dragon Season 2. According to George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Alys is known as the Witch Queen of Harrenhal and becomes a key figure among the Greens. In addition to Rankin, Simon Russell Beale was announced to play Ser Simon Strong, the great-uncle to Matthew Needham's Lord Larys Strong.

Meanwhile, Freddie Fox is set to star as Ser Gwayne Hightower, who is Queen Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) brother and Otto Hightower's (Rhys Ifans) son. Yes, that means he's also uncle to King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), Queen Helaena (Phia Saban) and Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). Also joining the cast is Abubakar Salim, who will play Alyn of Hull. Alyn is "a sailor in the Velaryon fleet who served in the Stepstones campaign," according to Variety.

And below are members of House of the Dragon's returning cast.

• Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen
  
• Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower
• Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
• Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen
• Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
• Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling
• Matthew Needham as Larys Strong

House of the Dragon Season 2 behind the scenes

Just like the Targaryens, the brass of House of the Dragon is changing regimes. After production on Season 1 was finished, co-showunner Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed three Season 1 episodes, stepped down from his role. No official reason was given, but it sounds like the rigors of the job — Sapochnik worked for three years on House of the Dragon just for Season 1 after directing some of Game of Thrones' most demanding episodes — became too much for Sapochnik. Ryan Condal will remain on board as the sole showrunner, while Sapochnik will remain as an executive producer. 

To fill the void left by Sapochnik's departure, veteran TV and film director Alan Taylor is joining Season 2 as an executive producer. Taylor's directing credits include seven episodes of Game of Thrones, including Season 1's "Baelor" and Season 7's "Beyond the Wall." 

Where is House of the Dragon Season 2 being filmed?

Season 1 was filmed in several locations in Europe — Cornwall, England; Herfordshire, England; Cáceres, Spain; the Castle of Monsanto in Portugal; and more. Expect Season 2 to film in the same locations, with Spain being the only confirmed location as of October 2022.

House of the Dragon Season 1 finale recap

House of the Dragon Season 1 ended with a lot of blood and death. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) traveled from King's Landing to Dragonstone to let Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) know that one, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is dead and two, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) has been crowned King by the Hightower-led Greens. Rhaenyra goes into premature labor upon hearing this news, and loses her daughter. And while Daemon wanted to jump into war immediately and fight back with dragons, Rhaenyra wished to wait — she does not want to rule over "a kingdom of ash and bone." Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the architect of the Greens' plan to take the Iron Throne, arrived at Dragonstone to offer peace terms on behalf of Aegon, and Rhaenyra said she would consider them.

At the same time, the Targaryen-led Blacks were making moves to gather support from Westerosi lords for Rhaenyra's claim. A sickly Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) returned from sea, and after some prodding from his wife Rhaenys declared his loyalty to Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra's son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) volunteered to deliver messages to the other lords, and Rhaenyra agreed to send him and his brother Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) — Jacaerys would go to the Eyrie and Winterfell, while Lucerys went to Storm's End. 

But at Storm's End, Lucerys saw that the fearsome dragon Vhagar was already there (that was your sign to leave, Luke!). Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) arrived earlier and already spoke to Borros Baratheon. The Lord of Storm's End was more interested in Aemond's offer — which included a marriage pact — and turned Lucerys away. Resentful Aemond, sensing an opportunity to further dominate the cousin who slashed his left eye, prepared to fight Lucerys and demanded he gouge out his own eye to pay his debt – a literal eye-for-an-eye proposition. But Lord Baratheon forbade the Targaryens from fighting under his roof. 

When Lucerys left on his dragon Arrax, he was followed by Aemond — who rides the much larger Vhagar. Aemond seemingly only wanted to taunt his nephew, but after Arrax spat fire at Vhagar, the she-dragon retaliated by chewing up Arrax in the air... leading to the death of sweet Lucerys, who was only 14 years old. The dragons are only under Targaryen control to a point, which is a scary thing. They're basically nuclear weapons with emotions and minds of their own, you know? 

The last scene of House of the Dragon Season 1 showed Daemon delivering the news to Rhaenyra — we did not actually hear this, but it's safe to assume this is what Daemon said. Rhaenyra shakily walked to the fireplace, turned around with a deadly glare, and the Dance of the Dragons is on!

Where to watch House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon Season 1 is available to stream on Max.