Nothing is stopping House Targaryen, not even the Writer’s Guild of America strike. HBO and George R. R. Martin have announced that season 2 of House of the Dragon will be released on schedule, even in the face of the WGA strike, which is now in its third month. Fans of the series have been concerned that the second season would see some form of delay because of the strike. Still, since the season’s scripts were reportedly finished before the strike, the executives behind House of the Dragon have assured fans that season 2 will still be released in the summer of 2024.
House of the Dragon season 2 began filming in mid-April 2023. Not even a month later, on May 2nd, the Writers’ Guild of America went on strike to protest unfair pay and working conditions for screenwriters. According to the last update from the WGA, the strike is still ongoing, but George R. R. Martin has confirmed that the scripts for House of the Dragon season 2 were all finished “months ago, long before the strike began,” allowing the eight-episode season to move forward under the strike.
“Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc,” Martin said in a blog post from May 2023. “There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons.”
‘House of the Dragon’ Showrunner Is ‘Excited’ About Season 2
Given that the WGA strike would have only affected House of the Dragon‘s writers and not the camera crews responsible for the show’s filming, we have no reason to believe that the decision to continue filming season 2 has violated any of the WGA’s strike rules. With the filming continuing as originally planned, it’s been confirmed that the new season will be released sometime in the summer of 2024, though a more specific date hasn’t been pinned down yet.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal had this to say about season 2:
“I’m excited to pick up where we left off. Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones. We’ve always talked about this particular tale, George [R.R. Martin] has too, of being a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. This series is very much about a house tearing itself apart from within. Now that all those pieces have been set on the board, I’m really excited to tell the next chapter.”
House of the Dragon season 2 will be available on HBO Max in 2024. Do you have thoughts on the show continuing through the WGA strike? Are you excited to see season 2, or would you have been okay with any delays caused by the strike? Let us know in the comments!
