House of the Dragon: Why did the co-showrunner leave after season 1?

Created: 01/10/2023 16:02

Miguel Sapochnik on the HOTD set © HBO

As director and co-showrunner, Miguel Sapochnik is a major contributor to the success of the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon.

But he doesn't get involved in season two - and now there's an amazing reason for it.

With just two episodes of the ten-episode season premiere of House of the Dragon airing - the Game of Thrones prequel was already considered a staggering success after its record-breaking premiere -- when co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik announced his departure.

At that time it seemed that the director, who had always staged the big battles in the parent series, wanted to rest after the work was done.

He was able to revive the franchise and now devoted himself to new challenges.

But according to reports from the media outlet Puck, an alleged dispute with the broadcaster could have caused the farewell.

The potential dispute is said to have been about Sapochnik's insistence that his wife Alexis Raben, who plays the supporting role of Talya (Alicent's valet and double agent for Lady Mysaria), retain her producer status.

Raben had already received this in the first season, although she had never held such a post before (she therefore lacked the usual qualifications).

You can read about how the conflict is said to have escalated at Serial Junkies.de.