Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen and Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen.Image: HBO

Though House of the Dragon’s only just premiered, HBO’s already making it quite clear that the Game of Thrones prequel is here to stay, at least for a while.

Today, HBO announced that Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragonhas been renewed for a second season of stories all about Westeros’ infamous family of inbred dragon riders. In a statement about the renewal, HBO executive vice president of programming Francesca Orsi sang House of the Dragon’s praises and expressed confidence in the ability of the creative team behind the show to tell compelling stories.

“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,” Orsi said. “A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel [Sapochnik] 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.”

There’s so much history packed into Martin’s The Princess and the Queen, thenovella House of the Dragon is based on, that there was no way HBO’s show would be able to cover it all in a single 10-episode season. Based just on House of the Dragon’s premiere, a lot of season 1 was crafted specifically to echo Game of Thrones in a way meant to appeal to fans of the original series. But as House of the Dragon continues, what’s likely going to end up determining its success is just how much new energy it brings to its story that isn’t present in the source material. Currently, there’s no word on when production for House of the Dragon’s second season will begin or when the season will premiere.