House of the Dragon showrunner admits "lurking" fear of ending the show
Ryan Condal said that he's "not thinking that far ahead" just yet – but acknowledged that sticking the landing will be the hardest thing.
We might still be a while away from the end of Game of Thrones spin-off series House of the Dragon – but showrunner Ryan Condal has admitted that he already has some lurking fears about how to end the show.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the launch of the upcoming second run, Condal said that although he's "not thinking that far ahead" just yet, he was aware that "sticking the landing is actually the most difficult thing" when it comes to a beloved TV series.
"Because everybody by that point, many years on down the road, are going to have their own idea of where the show should and/or what it should be," he explained.
"And you can't satisfy all of those very specific ideas. You can't give them what they want. You have to give them the thing that they need.
"And that's our challenge as adapters, and, you know, I'm willing to take it on - but yes, it is... that lurks in the back of my mind, for sure."
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Condal also revealed that the process of writing and making the second run had given him "some level of clarity" about where and when he wanted to end the show.
He added: "And look, as I always say, there's a history that marches on for decades after this. So it's not about ending the Targaryen history. It's just finding the place to close the curtain on this particular time…
"We're trying to find the satisfying television ending or the conclusion where we can leave everybody knowing that time marches on from here, but we've brought this dramatic story to a close.
"So, I think that's become very clear as we've just gotten farther down the timeline. But I'm not ready to yet talk about how many episodes or seasons are left.
"But I think the nice thing is we know where we're going, we have all the material that we need, because the book is written and hopefully we can bring this to a satisfying conclusion."
Read more:
- House of the Dragon boss reveals “warning” he gave Matt Smith before season 2
- House of the Dragon season 2 review: A masterful second act
Condal also explained that the challenge for season two was to "raise the bar" from the first season, especially since it was received so warmly by both fans and critics.
"Every season is its own challenge," he said. "The first season, the challenge was making something that anybody would engage with and care about after the celestial event that was that original series.
"And how do you follow that? You don't - you just try to make something that stands on its own two feet.
"Well, we did that – people showed up, they liked it. That's great. Now we have to outdo ourselves and raise the bar, and they're coming in with such high expectation. So I think from season to season, that's the challenge."
House of the Dragon season two will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.
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