"House of the Dragon" season 2 has been and gone, and the wait for "House of the Dragon" season 3 is on.
Whether or not you agree with me in feeling somewhat cheated by the "House of the Dragon" season 2 finale, one thing's for sure: the stakes are higher than ever, and some serious action is all but guaranteed when one of the best Max shows returns to our screens.
The rest of George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood" contains some spectacular, brutal battles, and, off the back of how exciting the Battle of Rook's Rest was to watch, I cannot wait for "House of the Dragon" season 3 to bring the rest of the story to life on HBO and Max.
Here's what we know about "House of the Dragon" season 3 right now.
'House of the Dragon' season 3 release date speculation
HBO confirmed it has greenlit "House of the Dragon" season 3 on June 13, 2024, just a few days ahead of the season 2 premiere. And while we know a third season is definitely happening, we still don't have a "House of the Dragon" season 3 release date... but we do have a production update courtesy of some of the show's stars.
Worse, we'd wager the show's return is still a ways off yet. That's because there was a two-year gap between seasons 1 and 2, and the second "Game of Thrones" spinoff, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight" is coming to Max later this year instead.
The Dance of the Dragons continues.#HouseOfTheDragon has been renewed for Season 3 on @StreamOnMax. pic.twitter.com/XnoaDEHfdHJune 13, 2024
Our latest "House of the Dragon" season 3 update comes courtesy of Matt Smith and Fabien Frankel (h/t Collider). At MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, the pair revealed that they've received scripts for episodes 4-6 of the next season.
If you cast your mind back to December, you'll remember showrunner Ryan Condal said the series was due to start filming at some point in the first quarter of 2025 (via Forbes). But this new update makes it sound like they're already a few episodes deep into the new season.
That said, we're still probably no closer to getting an exact release date for "House of the Dragon" season 3 just yet. If you need to find another show to fill the void, check out our round-up of the best Max shows you should be streaming right now.
Who's in the 'House of the Dragon' season 3 cast?
Although we don't know for sure, we'd expect most of the ensemble cast to return for "House of the Dragon" season 3. Barring those who have already lost their lives in the Dance of the Dragons thus far — no, I'm still not over Rhaenys' death — everyone's got a part to play in the ensuing conflict, one way or another.
Here's a list of just some of the main stars we're convinced will make an appearance in the third season:
- Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen
- Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower
- Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen
- Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen
- Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen
- Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon II Targaryen
- Harry Collet as Jacaerys Velaryon
- Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon
- Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen
- Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen
- Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
- Matthew Needham as Lord Larys Strong
- Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers
- Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull
- Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull
- Kieran Bew as Hugh Hammer
- Tom Bennett as Ulf the White
- Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
- Jefferson Hall as Jason and Tyland Lannister
- Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark
At the end of January, we also learned (via Variety) that British actor James Norton had boarded the show as Ormund Hightower. He has been referred to in the show thus far but has not yet appeared on screen.
Ormund is Otto's nephew, and the current Lord of Oldtown... and is presently leading the Hightower forces to King's Landing, to bolster the Greens' defences against Rhaenyra's allies.
'House of the Dragon' season 3 plot
While exact plot details will no doubt stay under wraps for quite some time just yet (yes, OK, you could look ahead in the original book, but we won't do that here), all signs point to all-out war in "House of the Dragon" season 3.
Both the Greens and Blacks spent season 2 attempting to bolster their forces in one way or another, and in the season finale's final moments, both sides braced for conflict, and their forces began to march off to war.
Rhaenyra's faction might have suffered a blow after Aemond and Vhagar defeated Rhaenys and Meleys, but they've since gained three new dragonriders, and Daemon renewed his vow to Rhaenyra... and showed he'd managed to raise a huge army at Harrenhal. After waging more of a successful ground campaign, the Greens were on the back foot, though Tylan Lannister has at least secured an allegiance with the Triarchy, which might mean they can break Corlys' naval blockade in the Gullet.
Is 'House of the Dragon' season 3 the show's last?
Just hours after writing this article, we learned that "House of the Dragon" would run for four seasons. At a press conference discussing the season 2 finale, showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal confirmed that the "Game of Thrones" prequel would conclude with season 4. Condal also confirmed that season 3 is currently being written, with the view of entering production in 'earlyish 2025'.
We don't yet know whether the series will also be another eight-episode run; when asked, he said: "I haven't had discussions with HBO about it. I would just anticipate the cadence of the show, from a dramatic storytelling perspective, will continue to be the same from season 2 on' (via Variety).
News that the spinoff will end with season 4 isn't too surprising. After all, George R.R. Martin claimed on his 'Not a Blog' site that 'it is going to take four full seasons of 10 episodes each to do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish' back in 2022. So, apart from the fact that we switched to a shorter second season, it sounds like things are progressing more or less according to plan.
This also means we could be on for some seriously explosive final seasons, as some of the Dance of the Dragons' bloodiest battles take place further down the timeline.
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