House of the Dragon will return for season 3 two years after season 2 aired, but showrunner Ryan Condal understands fans’ “frustration” over the long wait.
“I understand that,” the creator of the “Game of Thrones” prequel series said at a recent HBO press conference, which was also attended by Page Six.
However, Condal explained that it would be “impossible” to release new episodes any sooner.
“It takes a very long time to make,” he said, noting that it took a year to “prepare and shoot” and then another “seven (to) eight months” for the special effects team to “build the dragons.”
Condal told the antis to “do the math.”
He added: “I don’t get to do it every year. I’m sorry, but you guys decided to become fans of a show called House of the Dragon.”
Social media users complained about the long gap while waiting for season 3. Season 3 premiered on Sunday, with several deaths and the weirdest incestuous moment yet.
“I hate the 2-3 year gap between seasons now. House of the Dragon returns tonight and I can’t remember a single thing about what happened last season,” one fan wrote via X over the weekend, while another slammed the wait, calling it “ridiculous.”
“I truly think that if anything is going to ruin House of the Dragon, it’s the two year gap between seasons,” a third claimed.
Another fan noted on Reddit that viewers “got to chew on 8 episodes for 2 years” but “it wasn’t good.”
Additionally, many people posted that the long wait between seasons “instantly takes away all the excitement,” especially on shows where “a lot of people wear similar clothes and have goofy names.”
One fan argued that a consistent release schedule was needed in order for audiences to “keep track of who’s who…let alone remember who has what secret, insidious plans.”
But others defended the long wait, saying, “That’s the way things are these days for big, expensive shows with big casts and tons of VFX.”
“Game of Thrones” released a season every year from 2011 to 2019, except for a two-year gap before the final season.
Although “Game of Thrones” had fewer dragons than “House of the Dragon,” it featured three beasts and featured significant visual effects and combat.
House of the Dragon is set more than 100 years before the original show and follows Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma Darcy) and her husband Daemon (Matt Smith) as they wage a civil war with other branches of the family, including Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), over who is the rightful monarch.
“House of the Dragon” airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO.
