House of the Dragon showrunner exits days after Season 2 announcement

According to the report, Sapochnik will remain seated as an executive producer for House of the Dragon alongside Alan Taylor, who will be directing episodes in the next season of the show. HBO also confirmed that co-creator, Ryan Condal, will take over as the sole showrunner of House of the Dragon starting in Season 2.

For what it's worth, Taylor is an equally decorated filmmaker that has a fair few Game of Thrones episodes under his belt; his work on "Beyond the Wall" received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series nomination.

Ultimately, fans can rest easy knowing that House of the Dragon is still in good hands. HBO is highly likely well aware of the anxiety surrounding House of the Dragon following what happened with the latter seasons of Game of Thrones. It's worth noting that even George R.R. Martin regrets what happened and would have preferred for Game of Thrones to go on much longer. But, alas, this didn't happen. However, so long as George R.R. Martin is in tow and has a direct say on how things go, House of the Dragon shouldn't deviate much from the source material unless it's otherwise greenlighted by the infamously procrastinator of an author.