House of the Dragon’s ‘too dark’ lighting was ‘intentional creative decision’, HBO says as fans complain

HBO has spoken out in defence of House of the Dragon after fans complained that the lighting on the most recent episode was “too dark”.

During Sunday (2 October) night’s episode of the Game of Thrones spin-off series, many viewers claimed that the lighting was so dim they were struggling to make out the action on screen.

This was a criticism often levied at Game of Thrones, with the season eight episode “The Long Night” so dark the cinematographer suggested viewers should watch it in as dark a room as possible to optimise their viewing experience.

Following the most recent episode of House of the Dragon, one fan complained on Twitter that HBO needed to “issue a written apology for literally a whole episode of black screen”.

A response was shared from the official HBO Help account, which read: “We appreciate you reaching out about a night scene in House of the Dragon Episode 7 appearing dark on your screen.

“The dimmed lighting of this scene was an intentional creative decision.”

You can read the biggest talking points from episode seven here.

House of the Dragon continues every Sunday in the US on HBO at 9pm. The episode is shown simultaneously on Monday at 2am in the UK and again at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.