By The second season of HBO’s hit series House of the Dragon, starring Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, and Olivia Cooke, has finally reached the finish line of its filming schedule with at Leavesden Studios after 5 and a half months of filming. Here’s a selection of highlights of the production of the new season.
The Dragons prepare to fly
The journey began way back in May 2022 when we first reported that HBO had renewed House of the Dragon for a second season already. At that time not even the premiere episode was out, which showed the great confidence the company had in this series.
The show was then officially renewed in August 2022 when the first episodes were just coming out. Pre-production finally began in January 2023.
First leg of filming: Leavesden Studios and Spain
After months of writing and pre-production, filming finally started in April 2023 at Leavesden Studios, UK. After a few weeks, in May 2023, the cast and crew moved to Spain for a few weeks and we were treated with plenty of great photos and videos. Here’s a selection of them:
READ MORE: House of the Dragon Season 2 Films Aftermaths of Two Major Deaths
Among the cast in Spain were a great many: Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra), Olivia Cooke (Alicent), Phia Saban (Helaena), Fabien Frankel (Criston), Freddie Fox (Gwayne), Eddie Eyre (unknown), Kieran Bew (Hugh Hammer), Ellora Torchia (unknown), Scroobius Pip (herald), Michelle Bonnard (Brothel madam) and others.
Filming then returned to Leavesden Studios in England, where among other things they filmed the infamous Blood & Cheese scene. To add to that, later we discovered that the premiere episode of the new season would be called “A Son for a Son“. Very ominous.
Second leg of filming: Wales
Afterwards, in June, filming moved to Wales where we admittedly saw fewer insightful pictures, but still we had confirmations on such characters as Clinton Liberty as Addam Velaryon or Kieran Bew as Hugh Hammer among many other things. They included Corlys on a boat, dead bodies and more.
We won’t repeat all that here, but below you can read a full detailed account of all of the Wales filming which concluded in July:
READ MORE: A Month of House of the Dragon Season 2 Filming in Wales: War, Dragons, New Cast and More
Third leg of filming: Bourne Woods
Finally, the third major leg of outdoors filming was done in August 2023, in Surrey, UK.
Filming began with House Lannister meeting House Lefford in Aldershot, Surrey, but the headline act there most definitely was the extensive filming of The Battle at Rook’s Rest in Bourne Woods.
We saw burnt corpses, dragon heads, men screaming as well as Criston Cole, Aemond Targaryen and Gwayne Hightower. Here’s a detailed account of that:
READ MORE: Episode Title & Everything We Know About House of the Dragon’s Next Big Battle
But beside the battle, we also saw most likely Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen filming something unrelated to the Rook’s Rest battle sequence.
Wrapping up at Leavesden Studios
Then, filming went back to Leavesden Studios to finish the production. Among many things, they filmed scenes with Corlys’ ship, night scenes in King’s Landing with Gold Cloaks and more.
Finally, filming wrapped on September 29, 2023 marking the end of cameras rolling for House of the Dragon Season 2. Now it’s up to the post-production team to pick up the torch.
Message from producers to crew
The producers of House of the Dragon sent a message to the crew, who tirelessly worked on the show for months. It opens with a quote from Larys Strong to Aegon II Targaryen that he will say to the king sometime after Episode 4:
“You have already written yourself into legend. You survived dragonfire.“
It continues in producers’ own words: “To the stellar crew of HOTD S2: Thank you for taking this wild journey with us, from the fiery sets of Leavesden Studios to the rain-soaked Welsh mountains and beyond. We are so proud of what we’ve made together and so grateful for all your hard work.“
House of the Dragon Season 2 is in post-production for an expected 2024 release. Do follow Redanian Intelligence for news on House of the Dragon and other fantasy series and check out our Discord server to join the conversation or if you have any leaks or insights to share.
