It’s a busy week in the GTU (Game of Thrones Universe). Those Aegon the Conqueror rumors keep swirling. House of the Dragon finally began filming for season 2 (about time, right?) And today, during HBO Max’s wild news conference of ups and downs and name drops (more on that below), we got the craziest news of all. Dunk & Egg are officially making the jump from page to screen in the next iteration of the live-action GOT incarnations. How do you feel about all this info?!
What can I say? HBO’s Game of Thrones spinoff cup runneth over.
In case you yearned for the days of shorter seasons of Game of Thrones, Deadline has just announced that season 2 of House of the Dragon will reportedly run only 8 episodes, rather than the standard 10. This comes as a shock to many, given George R. R. Martin himself had indicated that it would take four 10 episode seasons to do HOTD justice. So what happened, exactly? Dive in as I muse…
Filming on season 2 of House of the Dragon is not too far away, though starting a tad later than originally reported. But first- a bit of writer news!
According to his agency website, David Hancock is writing two episodes for season 2 of House of the Dragon. Hancock served as a co-executive producer for the first season of the show. However he’s stepping up to the plate and taking on even more responsibilities this year, according to to the site:
Every mystery embedded in A Song of Ice and Fire offers rich ground for theories to germinate as we wait … and wait … for the conclusion of the series. The speculation is endlessly entertaining, sometimes profound, often frivolous. The best theories are community-building pursuits as they inspire animated discussion among fans and maintain interest between books and between seasons. This series of articles is intended in this spirit.
What will be offered here are not exhaustive theories, but seeds: Possibilities built from questions that may have very interesting answers in the books to come, and which are therefore a chance for us to test our own predictive powers. I will generally avoid topics that have been exhaustively investigated elsewhere unless I have something fresh and worthwhile to propose. The aim is to inspire speculative discussion. There is only one rule: Keep it fun!
Be warned though: The Look Into the Flames series will contain many spoilers and are intended for people who have read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books released so far, as well as Fire and Blood.
“History does not remember blood. It remembers names.”
Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon
One of the objectives George R.R. Martin had in writing A Song of Ice and Fire was to subvert dominant tropes of the high fantasy genre. He has said that he was bothered by the idealization of medieval society in fantasy novels and so in response his own fantasy epic exposes in excruciating detail just how unjust and brutal medieval social structures really were, and also just how hard they were on women.
Ewan Mitchell interviews are few and far between, but when they do come around … boy, do they deliver. In his second-ever interview for House of the Dragon, Ewan Mitchell discusses his process for getting into Aemond’ Targaryen’s head, and (very, very vaguely) teases good material in season 2.
Fan-favorite Game of Thrones actor Miltos Yerolemou, who won acclaim for his role as Syrio Forel, Arya Stark’s Water Dancing instructor in season one, returns to Con of Thrones, the premier unofficial convention for the Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire universe!
We hoped, we speculated, and now it’s (more or less) confirmed! Alys Rivers will be appearing in season 2 of House of the Dragon. Casting for her is currently underway and Emily Beecham is a contender for the role. **Spoilers for Fire and Blood and season 2 below**
Thank the Seven, Con of Thrones is back! The Game of Thrones fan convention is returning this summer, August 25-27, 2023, in Orlando, Florida! Con of Thrones will make its home this year at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
Tickets will go on sale to the public Friday, February 24th, at 1:00 p.m. eastern time.
