With only two more episodes of Season 1 of House of the Dragon, many fans are now wondering just how long this new epic fantasy series will run.
Already, the TV show has been renewed for Season 2, which has some viewers wondering if HBO will try to contain the Dance of the Dragons conflict between the Targaryens to only two seasons.
As yet, there has been no official word from HBO regarding how long it will run, but there has been the suggestion that House of the Dragon could wind up as an anthology series, meaning that we could get several various stories from House Targaryen.
Fans have also commented on how quickly Season 1 has stormed ahead to get through significant tracts of time in order to get everyone up to speed on the backstory ahead of the huge conflict involving Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Queen Alicient (Olivia Cooke).
The assumption by some is that HBO will condense the entire story — maybe even into just two seasons.
However, author George R. R. Martin has just put it out there that he would like to see four seasons of the new series, which is a prequel to Game of Thrones.
George R. R. Martin wants four seasons of House of the Dragon
According to George R. R. Martin’s blog, the author who penned Fire and Blood, on which House of the Dragon is based, he would like to see a total of four seasons in order to properly tell the story.
“It is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish,” Martin wrote.
The Dance of the Dragons refers to the civil war that erupts after the death of King Viserys (portrayed by Paddy Considine) and will start playing out from Episode 9, which airs on Sunday night.
This would mean that Season 1 has, so far, explored only the backstory leading up to the conflict and will now have three seasons to explore the bloody battles that unfold. So long as what Martin says is okayed by HBO.
Will House of the Dragon get four seasons, though?
While George R. R. Martin may want four seasons of the hugely popular fantasy series, the decision, ultimately, lies with HBO regarding a continuation.
Previously, with Game of Thrones, HBO had wanted the original series to run longer than it did but the showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, insisted it was to be all tied up in Season 8.
While Martin was also connected with the original show, he did not have as much control of it as he does now with House of the Dragon so it seems very possible that HBO could give him exactly what he wants in regard to how he expects his vision to play out.
But, for now, fans will just have to wait for the official word from HBO before anticipating more installments beyond Season 2.
House of the Dragon airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on HBO Max.