Some Wild BTS Drama on ‘House of the Dragon’ Was Exposed and It’s Pretty Much a Mess

Despite a v, v, v successful first season, House of the Dragon’s co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik left the show ahead of season 2 and now...we officially know why.

According to a new report in Puck (picked up by TV Line, Business Insider, and Collider), Miguel departed House of the Dragon—which, by the way, he’d been working on for three years prior to its launch—“after a protracted standoff over his wife and her involvement in the show.” Basically, he wanted his wife Alexis Raben, who was a producer in season 1, to join the producing team for the second season...which seems reasonable enough considering she was involved in the first season and it was incredibly successful.

But, apparently, HBO thought Alexis didn’t have enough experience (ummmm, did the experience on season 1 not count, or...?), and things got so intense and awkward that the network had to bring in a literal mediator to “de-escalate” the situation, which, clearly didn’t work.

While neither Miguel nor HBO have commented on this new tea, back when Miguel’s departure was announced, he released a pretty positive statement, saying, “Working within the Thrones universe for the past few years has been an honor and a privilege, especially spending the last two with the amazing cast and crew of House of the Dragon….I am so proud of what we accomplished with season 1 and overjoyed by the enthusiastic reaction of our viewers. It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally.”

Meanwhile, HBO mused in part, “Miguel Sapochnik has done amazing work on the first season of House of the Dragon, establishing its signature look and feel. This series simply could not have come together the way it did without him.”

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