HBO has ordered Season 2 of House of the Dragon.

Only George R.R. Martin could have predicted such a twist.

Though House of the Dragon has only recently premiered, HBO has made it abundantly clear that the Game of Thrones prequel is here to stay, at least for the time being.

House of the Dragon, created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, has been renewed for a second season of stories about Westeros’ infamous family of inbred dragon riders. HBO executive vice president of programming Francesca Orsi praised House of the Dragon in a statement about the renewal and expressed confidence in the creative team behind the show’s ability to tell compelling stories.

“Our incredible cast and crew took on a massive challenge and delivered a show that has already established itself as must-see TV,” Orsi said. “We’d like to express our gratitude to George, Ryan, and Miguel [Sapochnik] for guiding us on this journey.” With season two, we couldn’t be more excited to continue telling the epic saga of House Targaryen.”

There is so much history packed into Martin’s The Princess and the Queen, on which the novella House of the Dragon is based, that HBO’s show could not possibly cover it all in a single 10-episode season. Based solely on the premiere of House of the Dragon, much of season 1 was designed to echo Game of Thrones in a way that would appeal to fans of the original series. However, as House of the Dragon progresses, what will likely determine its success is how much new energy it brings to its story that isn’t present in the source material. There is currently no word on when the second season of House of the Dragon will begin production or when it will premiere.