HBO Makes It Official: House of the Dragon Ends With Season 4

Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon will end with Season 4, HBO has confirmed.

In November, HBO confirmed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2 and House of the Dragon Season 4 as part of a Marvel-style roadmap update for Game of Thrones TV series.

In that announcement, HBO extended each series run through 2028. Both series will air on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was renewed for a second season ahead of the Season 1 debut earlier this month, with Season 2 due out in 2027. House of the Dragon Season 3, meanwhile, debuts in summer 2026, with Season 4 set for 2028.

Now, in an interview with Deadline, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, confirmed that Season 4 of House of the Dragon will be its final season.

“Yes, that is the idea,” Bloys said. “The idea has always been to follow the history of the Targaryens. If you know the books, you know how the Targaryens end up. So there is a natural end to this particular history of that House of the Targaryens.”

While Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin has expressed his enthusiasm for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, he’s been critical of House of the Dragon. Indeed, Martin recently discussed his broken relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, which the author candidly described as “worse than rocky” and “abysmal.”

While Martin’s displeasure with House of the Dragon’s ongoing story development is nothing new, a profile piece published by The Hollywood Reporter revealed eye-opening new detail from Martin on the breakdown of his relationship with Condal — and the extent to which HBO executives had to manage the pair behind the scenes of the show’s production.

Martin’s unhappiness with Condal appears to have reached its zenith during a contentious Zoom call where the showrunner laid out his vision for House of the Dragon’s third season. Martin said he responded to Condal’s plan with numerous objections, and ultimately stated: “This is not my story any longer.”

In March last year, Condal called Martin’s criticisms of House of the Dragon Season 2 “disappointing.”

Deadline asked Bloys if HBO planned a “supersized” final season of House of the Dragon, but he said a decision had yet been made on its episode count. “Ryan is working, like any show like this; he is finishing post on Season 3 and working with the writers on what Season 4 looks like,” Bloys told Deadline. “I don’t know where he’s landed on the episode count yet.”

With House of the Dragon coming to an end in 2028, thoughts turn to what’s next for HBO and Game of Thrones. To that end, a proposed Game of Thrones sequel series starring Arya Stark is reportedly in the early stages of development, seemingly to replace previous plans to develop a spinoff based around Jon Snow. We also have word that animation icon Genndy Tartakovsky (Primal, Samurai Jack, Hotel Transylvania) is attached to the long-gestating Game of Thrones animated spinoff series 9 Voyages, which will follow the adventures of Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka The Sea Snake. The character is played in House of the Dragon by actor Steve Toussaint.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.