We are all set to return to the world of Targaryen politics soon with House of the Dragon Season 2. The Matt Smith prequel series, set 200 years before Game of Thrones, has garnered widespread praise after its premiere in late 2022.
House of the Dragon Season 2 raised several headlines when it continued its filming and was completed in time even after facing the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. However, it faced another significant issue when co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik left the show. According to a recent interview by Matt Smith, fans will feel Sapochnik’s absence in the second season.
What did Matt Smith say about Miguel Sapochnik’s absence from House of the Dragon?
Smith openly stated that Sapochnik, being the director of some iconic GoT episodes like Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards, and The Winds of Winter, greatly helped in the tonality of the show. He added that the English director will be a major miss in the second season of HotD.
It’s a shame, because it had a great effect on the tone of the show, and knowing what you need to deliver. It’s kind of second-album syndrome, isn’t it? You’ve got to play the hits a bit. People have got to feel like they’re getting some sense of a ‘Game of Thrones’-type of show. We wish him well — but certainly, when you lose a director of that caliber, you’re going to feel it.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, Sapochnik and HBO amicably parted ways. It also led to Ryan Condal being the solo showrunner for HotD‘s second season. Surprisingly, another report by Puck indicated that the 49-year-old had a major dispute with HBO.
Miguel Sapochnik’s wife Alexis Raben was an active part in Dragon‘s first season where she played Talya, a lady-in-waiting for Olivia Cooke’s Alicent Hightower. Raben was also credited as a producer of the series. However, HBO did not want Raben to be in Season 2’s production team due to her inexperience.
Reportedly, the situation got out of hand, and Sapochnik left the show. He also fired his representatives at WME and joined the rival company CAA with his wife. Although Miguel Sapochnik will remain as an executive producer of the series, GoT veteran Alan Taylor also joined the HotD team to act as a director and producer.
Will House of the Dragon Season 2 be different from Season 1?
Despite being loved by everyone, one of Season 1’s most significant criticisms was for its pacing and the time jumps we encountered. Showrunner Ryan Condal suggested that the second season’s pace will be much different in comparison to the first season.
I think the pace will feel more like building momentum. Season 1 felt breakneck because you were jumping time periods, whereas season 2 feels like you light a fuse in episode 1 and watch it go — and at points, little charges go off.
Condal also hinted that this series may have a much better conclusion than Game of Thrones‘ disaster ending. It is because the source material for the show is “finished, and we know where the curtain closes.” The series is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood. Now, it remains to be seen if we have a fruitful return to the world of Westeros with everything the show went through.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will be premiered on June 16, 2024, on Max.
