House of the Dragon to End With Season 4

It's official: HBO's "House of the Dragon" will conclude after four seasons. During a press conference on Monday, showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal confirmed that the show will wrap up with Season 4. He also shared that the writing for Season 3 is underway, with production expected to begin in early 2025. Although the episode count for Season 3 hasn't been finalized, Condal anticipates that the show will maintain a similar dramatic structure to its previous seasons.

George R.R. Martin, the author of "A Song of Ice and Fire" and co-creator of "House of the Dragon," has previously suggested that telling the full "Dance of the Dragons" story from his book "Fire & Blood" would require four seasons of 10 episodes each. Until now, HBO had not officially confirmed the total number of seasons for the show. However, with the recent announcement that "House of the Dragon" will end after Season 4, it seems Martin's estimate aligns with the network's plans for concluding the series.

HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, known as "Game of Thrones," ran for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019. The network is now working on another "Game of Thrones" prequel, titled "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." This new series is based on Martin's "Tales of Dunk and Egg" and is set 100 years prior to the events of "Game of Thrones."

During the press conference on Monday, Ryan Condal explained why the Season 2 finale of "House of the Dragon," which aired on August 4, did not include the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet. Condal mentioned that the team wanted to give this significant event, which is one of the most anticipated moments from "Fire & Blood," the time and space it deserves.

“We’re building to that event,” Condal said. “It will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling of ‘House of the Dragon.’ Based on what we know now, it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off. We just wanted to ensure that we had the time and resources to deliver it in a way that excites and satisfies the fans.”

Ryan Condal also addressed the intriguing appearance of Otto Hightower (played by Rhys Ifans) in the final moments of Season 2’s finale. Unlike his portrayal in "Fire & Blood," Otto was shown briefly, seemingly imprisoned. Condal chose not to provide specifics about this development, noting that answers will be revealed in Season 3. He teased, “We were delighted to have Rhys reenter the story, and I will just say that the Otto Hightower tale has not yet come to an end.”

Source: Variety