The upcoming second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon will consist of eight episodes, two fewer than Season 1, according to American entertainment magazine Deadline.

The news comes as production is about to begin on Season 2 in the UK for a likely summer 2024 premiere. This decision is part of a long-term plan for the show, which includes HBO eying a green light for a third season.

Earlier, HBO did not reveal the number of episodes in Season 2. The initial plan was for another 10-episode season. The focus on cost-cutting following a leadership change at HBO’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery may have led to the makers settling for fewer episodes, reported Deadline.

However, an HBO spokesperson, who confirmed to Deadline that Season 2 will contain eight episodes, stressed that the episode count trim was story-driven.

Earlier Deadline reported that House of the Dragon’s creative team had envisioned the series running for three or four seasons. The show’s executive producer-showrunner Ryan Condal and author/executive producer George R.R. Martin took a step back as Season 2 was being put together to take a big-picture view of the overall series, reported Deadline.

According to the report, it is likely that the series, which follows Martin’s book Fire & Blood, might get renewed for Season 3 with HBO planning to move ahead with the script, cast and production plans.

House of the Dragon is set 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. It stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans.