The season 2 finale of "House of the Dragon" certainly left some people scratching their heads. My colleague Martin Shore even went as far to say he felt "cheated" by the eighth and final episode of the season. I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but I certainly felt like the show was pulling its punches ending the season as it did.
So on Monday (Aug. 5) I was already apprehensive about the show going forward. Then came the announcement that season 4 would be the show's final season. This news came from "House of the Dragon" showrunner Ryan Condal and once I saw that news, alarm bells started ringing.
But once I also saw that season 3 would likely have just eight episodes (h/t The Hollywood Reporter), I went into full panic mode. Eight episodes was already not enough this season, and now we were getting another truncated season? Yikes.
Of course, the real reason I'm so panicked is because we've been here before. "Game of Thrones" famously had pacing issues over its final two seasons. In the previous six seasons, we took 10 episodes a season to carefully construct the world George R.R. Martin laid out in "A Song of Ice and Fire" and then suddenly we rushed through the final act of the story in a mere 13 episodes. We went from a marathon into a sprint without warning, and by the end we were left exasperated.
'House of the Dragon' needs to heed the pacing mistakes of 'Game of Thrones'
While my colleague Martin and I had similar feelings about the season 2 finale, we have differing opinions about Condal's announcement that the show will end with season 4. He thinks that this will be the perfect amount of time to tell the proper story of the Dance of the Dragons from "Fire and Blood" and could fix the show's biggest problem — its slow start.
However, I think in his argument, which is well reasoned, he actually highlights exactly why I'm panicked. As Martin points out, George R.R. Martin wrote in 2022 that HBO would need 'four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish."
For the record, I agree with that assessment. 40 episodes feels about right to tell the story. The problem is, we now are on pace for closer to 34 episodes if the next two seasons have eight-episode arcs like season 2. That's six hours of story just gone — thrown out the window like a Stark.
And we need every second of that available storytelling time after spending significant time with Rhaerya and Alicent's childhoods in season 1 — time well spent in my opinion — and several hours of season 2 being devoted to Daemon Targaryen's acid trip at Harrenhall, which was probably more than we needed to spend there.
Perhaps I'm fretting for nothing and there are other explanations for the choices the show is making. Season 2 was impacted by the Writers Guild of America strike and while season 3 is tipped for eight episodes that might not yet be set in stone. I'm even cynical enough to think that we were prevented from an epic battle to end season 2 is because HBO wants to keep certain characters alive so the actors can promote season 3 in two years time.
Both "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" have succeeded when executing balanced, methodical storytelling.
If season 3 is officially just eight episodes, perhaps budgetary concerns are the reason why we only get eight episodes in 2026. This is something Condal as much as admitted in his Monday press conference. In theory, if we get fewer episodes for budget reasons, the episodes we do get should be more spectacular than expected.
But I'm not sure that's a good thing. Both "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" have succeeded when executing balanced, methodical storytelling. And while we dislike the pacing of the final seasons of the former (among other things), there were certainly some spectacular moments. The issue was they were rushed through and even unearned at times. The budget and spectacle was there but ultimately unsatisfying.
I'm not the only one with these concerns though, and I'm sure the showrunners have heard them from voices more powerful than mine. Maybe we will ultimately get the "four full seasons" that G.R.R.M. said was necessary to deliver the Dance that was promised. If we do, I'm hopeful based on what we've seen so far that "House of the Dragon" will avoid the ignominious ending that befell its predecessor. But if the next two seasons are only eight episodes each, I'm convinced that the show's pacing will repeat the mistakes that ultimately defeated "Game of Thrones."
