Latest ‘Game of Thrones’ News: ‘House’ season 1 ends with a jaw-dropping death as showrunner promises to fix those lighting issues

House of the Dragon was a great watch throughout, at least when we could actually see what was happening on the screen. As season one ends with an epic finale that metaphorically and literally unleashes the storm that has been gathering over the Seven Kingdoms for a while, the show harkens a terrible realization in the fandom: They’ve once again grown to love Game of Thrones and now they have to wait two whole years for it to come back.

While we all have an excruciating wait ahead of us until the production crew makes and edits a second batch of House episodes, the community will keep the hype alive and we will continue to keep you informed of the latest tidings from HBO, Ryan Condal, and George R.R. Martin himself. To that end, here’s your daily roundup of Westerosi news.

‘The Black Queen’ ends in tragedy, and Rhaenyra loses her cool

As if a stillborn son and the death of her father weren’t already enough to drive her over the edge, Rhaenyra managed to keep her cool throughout the finale last night. The killing of his son Lucerys Velaryon is an entirely different blow, however, and now all bets are off as to what the Black Queen will do next. As those loyal to her remain to pick up the pieces of the devastated monarch, the show rolls its credits for one last time in the first season, a somber ending to a somber season of high fantasy television.

Daemon Targaryen stans aren’t so sure about the character after the finale

The Rogue Prince was ever the wild card in the Targaryen ensemble, but now even the fandom is not sure how to perceive the character after he almost killed Rhaenyra in the finale. Okay, perhaps “killed” is too strong a description for the Prince of the City choking his beloved wife in a fit of rage, and the man was certainly grieving the death of his brother. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Daemon should be there for Rhaenyra instead of needlessly lashing out. The protagonist might yet redeem himself, but one thing has become absolutely clear: No amount of charisma will keep him in the fandom’s good graces if he continues down this path in future seasons.

Ryan Condal promises to fix those lighting issues in season 2

No matter what the Game of Thrones producers say about the dim lighting being a deliberate aesthetic choice, we’ve lost count of the times we’ve had to narrow our eyes to be able to catch a glimpse of what’s happening on the screen while watching House of the Dragon. The complaints became so widespread that even HBO had to address it, and showrunner Ryan Condal has promised to fix it in the next season. The gloominess of Westeros is apparently so outreaching that it even hides the sun most of the time in daylight, so let’s hope that the producers give the show’s decoupage a much-needed overhaul.

When can we expect the second ‘House of the Dragon’ season on HBO?

With Game of Thrones, HBO released a new season every year. At least that was the case in the first six seasons, and the remaining two only took longer because they were that much harder to produce in terms of scale. House of the Dragon is being developed in an era where such projects definitely take more than six or eight months to wrap up, and with the second season still in the pre-production stage, our estimate puts its release window sometime in mid to late 2024. In short, we have a long wait ahead of us.