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Possible spoilers for House of the Dragon follow.

There are two Game of Thrones spinoffs on HBO at this point, and fortune seems to favor the latter. For all the goodwill that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is getting from both critics and Westeros fans, there's been no shortage of grumbling from viewers of House of the Dragon, not the least of which is coming from A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin himself.

Very soon, though, all the show's detractors won't even have a House of the Dragon anymore.

The confirmation of House of the Dragon ending with a fourth season came out of an interview HBO's CEO Casey Bloys did with Deadline. And along with this fact (which had been talked about but not officially confirmed by showrunner Ryan Condal), Bloys went on record to say that it was in line with what the network had always wanted to do with the show.

"Yes, that is the idea," Bloys told his interviewer regarding a season 4 finale. "The idea has always been to follow the history of the Targaryens. If you know the books, you know how the Targaryens end up. So there is a natural end to this particular history of that House of the Targaryens."

In case you don't know, reader, the "natural end" Bloys is probably referring to is the culmination of the civil war that brewed within House Targaryen, known to readers as the Dance of Dragons. Written about in the novel Fire and Blood, a prequel to Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, this civil war is the basis of House of the Dragon's plotline. And though the Targaryens "end up" as Daenerys and Jon Snow, respectively, it appears HBO is going to wrap this particular story up with the war.

House of the Dragon seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has brought Westeros back to HBO Max, and Popverse has got more Game of Thrones articles than could fit on a spiky chair. We've got everything you need to dive into the series, including:

• Popverse's Game of Thrones watch order 
• How to read George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series in order 
• The biggest differences between The House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones
• The history of Westeros's greatest houses & families
• Every single dragon in The House of the Dragon so far

Plus much more coming as it gets announced!