House of the Dragon showrunner Miguel Sapochnik explains his exit from series

Miguel Sapochnik is leaving HBO's Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon ahead of the second season.

Along with co-creator Ryan Condal, he served as showrunner on season one, which premiered last month on Disney+Hotstar.

Condal will now serve as the sole showrunner on the next instalment, according to the entertainment website Deadline.

Sapochnik, who directed episodes of Game of Thrones such as The Battle of Bastards and The Winds of Winter, will remain an executive producer on House of the Dragons.

"Working within the Game of Thrones universe for the past few years has been an honour and a privilege, especially spending the last two with the incredible House of the Dragon cast and crew. I am so proud of what we accomplished with Season 1 and thrilled by our viewers' enthusiastic response," Sapochnik explained.

"It was extremely difficult to decide to leave, but I know it is the best decision for me, both personally and professionally. However, knowing that Alan will be joining the series gives me great comfort. I've known and respected him for a long time, and I believe this priceless series could not be in better hands," he added.

Condal will collaborate closely with series co-creator George RR Martin and the rest of the producing team on the second season, which was announced just days after the first instalment's premiere. The show is based on Martin's book Fire & Blood, which is a history of House Targaryen set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones, which concluded its eight-season run in 2019. Alan Taylor, a Game of Thrones veteran, will also serve as the show's director and executive producer for the second season.

The first episode was seen by over 20 million viewers across linear, on-demand and HBO Max platforms in the US, based on a combination of Nielsen data and first-party data.

House of the Dragon features an ensemble cast of Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and so on.