House of the Dragon showrunner confirms season two will be far more intense than the first

House of the Dragon, showrunner Ryan Condal has good news for everyone who has finally finished the first season of their incredible HBO show.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Condal admitted the show had a slow start, but said that was intentional.

"We will get to the spectacle. But you have to understand these people’s complexities before they’re thrown into war," he explained.

"Series two will hit the rhythms people came to expect from the middle run of Game of Thrones, but it will have been earned, and viewers will feel the tragedies because we put the work in."

He used a scene from episode eight to highlight his point.

And, if you haven't seen it yet, spoilers ahead.

"So when the rape happened in episode eight, it haunts viewers because they see what it does to the young woman instead of seeing the event itself," Condal told The Sunday Times.

"It is the story we are telling — we can imagine what it looked like. We have seen it on TV before."

He added: "You don’t need to see the act itself."

Condal admitted that creating a show with the spectacle and size expected from a Game of Thrones story has been difficult.

"It is a challenging series because we live in a world where people are torn between multiple screens and channels, and we are requiring you to pay attention through crazy timeline shifting and actor recasting," he said to The Times.

"But it’s made an impact."

Condal's comments come shortly after the season one finale was leaked online before its premiere, as well as the news of the show's renewal.

Announcing the renewal, Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO programming, said: "We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with season one.

"Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.

"A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel for leading us on this journey.

"We couldn't be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two."

We haven't yet got a release date for season two of House of the Dragon, so you're going to have to sit tight until something official comes from HBO.

At least we can get excited for a much more intense show when the next batch of episodes drop.