‘House Of The Dragon’ Season 2 Will Be Much Less Dark (In Its Visuals, Not Its Subject Matter)

By Samantha Nungesser @samjnungesser
Published Oct. 24, 2022, 2:09 p.m. ET

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After weeks of complaints that certain scenes in House of the Dragon are too dark — not in subject matter, exactly, but more in the way of IT WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THE ACTION ON SCREEN — showrunner Ryan Condal is opening up about whether the lighting choice will be used in future seasons. And it looks like there is a possibility that viewers won’t have to jam their brightness all the way up going forward.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “The visual continuity of the show is certainly something that we will look at.” According to the showrunner, it’s a “tricky” process because of the high-end equipment they use in post-production.

“It looked great in post and it looked great on my television. But when you release a Star Wars film, you’re releasing it in theaters,” he explained. “For TV, you’re releasing it onto a million different television screens and different setups and calibrations all over the planet. You’re also releasing it through different distributors who are going to distribute it in 4K or 1080p or 1080i or not that at all.”

He continued, “So it’s hard to account for everybody’s televisions and their calibrations and sometimes the file can get compressed. So the show can look very different than the thing that we saw and approved and released.”

However, Condal says it’s their job to take all that into account when making Season 2. He added, “The feedback was certainly heard. I get it. And we want the show to be a great viewing experience for everybody.”

House of the Dragon aired its final episode of the first season on Sunday night (Oct. 23). While the Game of Thrones prequel has been a massive hit for HBO, even becoming the company’s most-watched premiere and garnering an early Season 2 renewal after its first episode, many fans have complained about the dark scenes filmed in “day for night.” HBO’s Twitter account previously attributed the lighting style to an “intentional creative decision,” although by the sounds of it, it looks like the problem may be solved in the future.

The entire first season of House of the Dragon is currently streaming on HBO Max.