The release date for House of the Dragon Season 2 is a record-breaker for HBO and Max's Game of Thrones franchise.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will mark the tenth season of TV set in the Game of Thrones universe over the last 13 years since the franchise began in 2011.
House of the Dragon Fans Endure Record-Breaking Wait for Season 2
Following the House of the Dragon Season 1 finale on August 21, 2022, fans will have been kept waiting 602 days for the Season 2 premiere on Sunday, June 16.
The 602-day wait breaks the record for the Game of Thrones franchise as it marks the longest gap between seasons of Westeros TV yet, excluding the 1190-day break between the 2019 flagship series finale and the 2022 spin-off premiere.
The previous record was the 595 days between the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale on August 27, 2017 and the Season 8 premiere on April 14, 2019.
By comparison, the shortest break in the franchise came between the first two seasons of Game of Thrones with just 287 days, around nine and a half months.
The full list of days between Game of Thrones franchise seasons is below:
- Game of Thrones Season 1 to Season 2: 287 days
- Game of Thrones Season 2 to Season 3: 301 days
- Game of Thrones Season 3 to Season 4: 301 days
- Game of Thrones Season 4 to Season 5: 301 days
- Game of Thrones Season 5 to Season 6: 315 days
- Game of Thrones Season 6 to Season 7: 385 days
- Game of Thrones Season 7 to Season 8: 595 days
- House of the Dragon Season 1 to Season 2: 602 days
House of the Dragon Season 2's Long Release Wait Explained
House of the Dragon was renewed for Season 2 in August 2022, less than a week after the series premiere on HBO. Production would later begin in April 2023 and was able to continue through the SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strike as the largely British cast came under the U.K. actors union Equity instead.
While it may appear unclear at first why Season 2 took so long to release as it went unaffected by the strikes, it appears the answer lies in post-production.
House of the Dragon Season 1 wrapped filming in mid-February 2022 before debuting around six months later in August. Season 2 finished filming in late September 2023 and has taken almost nine months to bring to screens in June.
With Season 2 set to bring the Dance of the Dragons to life with large-scale war, the team has seemingly spent longer than last season on CGI and post-production to create the epic and dragon-fueled action for the coming eight episodes.
Game of Thrones fans have become more than used to long waits over the years, especially those familiar with George R. R. Martin's novels. The last book, A Dance With Dragons, was released in July 2011 and, at the time of writing, 4717 days have passed with no sign of the penultimate novel, The Winds of Winter, coming soon.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on HBO and Max on Sunday, June 16.
Read more about House of the Dragon:
House of the Dragon Season 2 Release Date Schedule of Episodes Revealed
House of the Dragon Season 3 Release Prospects, Cast & Everything We Know
Is House of the Dragon Season 2 the Only HBO Game of Thrones Show In Development?
