The final episode of Season 2 of House of the Dragon has been premiered, and it has left viewers on a gut-wrenching cliffhanger that will have them yearning for more. This all went down during Sunday night’s season-ender just as both factions were gearing up for the big Battle of the Gullet, a seminal moment of war during the Dance of Dragons. Therefore, this sudden turn of events has surprised many fans, as the series is unlikely to return to HBO/Max for two years.
House of the Dragon co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal finally weighed into the matter sharing his creative reasoning for the decision to push back the Battle of the Gullet in a post-season press conference. Condal also said the creative team wanted to ensure the battle received the “time and space that it deserves,” (per Variety). According to the creator, the Battle of the Gullet is one of the biggest moments from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, “the second-most-anticipated action event” which is one of the key moments in the narrative.
“We were building to that event, and it will happen very shortly in the storytelling of House of the Dragon. It should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off.” Doing justice to such a big event has been important to the showrunners, who always wanted “time and the space” to pull it off on a level that’ll excite and satisfy the thirst of the fans. He added that one of the reasons for the decision was to help “build some anticipation” toward the Battle of the Gullet inherently creating the suspense in a classic calm-before-storm situation. “I know everybody wants this to come out every summer…,” he stated adding that the show is “so complex that we’re really making multiple feature films every season.”
Condal continued that the moments of high drama from the show before would surpass them, “If Rook’s Rest and the Red Sowing are any indication,” they will pull off a “hell of a win” with the Battle of the Gullet in the future, potentially in the next season.
There is no denying that the forthcoming season of House of the Dragon which take place 200 years prior to the events of Game of Thrones, will take time. Of course, the thematic grandness of the narrative will require enough time to accomplish the creative vision of the showrunner but most importantly, featuring the battle would inherently be time-consuming.
The second season of House of the Dragon saw Westeros on the brink of civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for power on behalf of King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra respectively.
Season 2 of HBO flagship show was a huge success that features an ensemble cast led by Olivia Cooke, who plays Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower; Emma D’Arcy, who plays Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen; Eve Best, who plays Princess Rhaenys Targaryen; Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon; Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole; Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen; Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen; Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria; and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto H.
Now, as the show ended, fans had to endure the cliffhanger but it successfully managed to build the hype for House of the Dragon Season 3 as all eyes are on the Battle of the Gullet.
Stream House of the Dragon season 1 and 2 on Max.
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