House of the Dragon Season 2 Runtime Makes Up For Shortened Season (Barely)

Summary

• The second season of House of the Dragon will premiere in just over a week.
• In the meantime, HBO has released the episode release schedule.
• The runtime may make up for the reduced number of episodes.

Are you ready, fellow dragonriders? We're just eleven days away from the premiere of the highly anticipated second season of House of the Dragon on HBO! A prequel to GoT based on the fictionalized historical chronicle Fire and Blood, HOTD recounts the fierce conflict that erupted in the lands of Westeros two centuries prior to main events, no less devastating than those of the original series.

And the closer we get to the premiere of the new season, the more HBO teases us with hints and details. So, the other day it became known the timing of the first two episodes of Season 2, and their length will definitely amaze you! Let's remember that there will be only 8 episodes (the previous season consisted of 10), and therefore it can serve as a compensation, even if small, for the shortened season.

Season 2 Runtime Can Compensate for Shortened Season

Recently, HBO released its TV schedule for the entire month of June with details about each time slot. It was revealed that the first two episodes will be over an hour long. Thus, the first episode (also revealed to be titled A Son for a Son) will be 62 minutes and the second episode will be an incredible 74 minutes, which is the longest in the history of House of the Dragon.

For comparison, the first episode of Season 1 was 65 minutes and the second episode was only 53 minutes. That's not to say that the episodes were much shorter than they are now - 5 out of 10 episodes were over an hour long, while most of the remaining episodes were around 59 minutes.

The total running time of the entire first season was about 10 hours. In other words, for the second season to really make up for this reduced number of episodes, it would have to make every episode after the second one 65-75 minutes long to even come close to that number.

What Does This Mean for the Events of Season Two?

And of course, such a long runtime for the first two episodes of HOTD's new season makes fans speculate about what to expect in the near future.

You may remember that the first season ended with a tragic escalation of the Black vs. Green conflict when Eamond's dragon, Vhagar, devoured Rhaenyra's son, Lucerys, and his dragon, Arrax, in a fit of rage. Now we're in for a truly bloody civil war that will unfold across Westeros, from the North (expect the Starks to play a major role in events!) to King's Landing. All in all, the extended timeline suggests that the new episodes will be action-packed.

House of the Dragon Season 2 Release Schedule

Alas, we'll have to wait a little longer, as the second season premieres in just over a week. But luckily, HBO has released the schedule for each of the upcoming episodes (with details only for the first two). To make sure you don't miss the premiere and subsequent episodes, check out the schedule below:

• Episode 1, A Son for a Son — June 16 (1 hour, 4 minutes) 64
• Episode 2 — June 23 (1 hour, 12 minutes) 72
• Episode 3 — June 30
• Episode 4 — July 07
• Episode 5 — July 14
• Episode 6 — July 21
• Episode 7 — July 28
• Episode 8 — August 04

Each episode will air on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. EDT on HBO and Max. In the meantime, we have time to revisit past HOTD events. The entire first season is available to stream on Max.