Summer 2024 saw the release of House of the Dragon season 2, kicking off the Dance of the Dragons. (Sort of.) After airing over two months, the Game of Thrones spinoff concluded with the anticlimactic season 2 finale, capping off an installment that served more as the second prelude to the epic Targaryen civil war. Sure, the war between the Greens and the Blacks did officially start, with its first major battle at Rook's Rest culminating in the death of one main character and the mutilation of another. But HotD thus far has spent more time setting the stage for epic conflicts than actually showing them.
Luckily for bloodthirsty fans, that's all set to change in House of the Dragon season 3, which was greenlit by HBO days before season 2 even premiered. Read on for everything we know about season 3 so far, including how long we'll have to wait for more dragonfire.
When will 'House of the Dragon' season 3 come out?
House of the Dragon season 3 isn't expected to hit our screens until at least 2026. This would follow the pattern of the previous two installments, which premiered on HBO in August 2022 and June 2024, respectively. Plus, season 2 arrived right on schedule; despite the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes pausing most of Hollywood, HotD is a British series that was able to continue filming with no delays. So it officially takes two years to deliver another round of Targaryen-filled episodes.
While a release date is still far off, we do know that work on season 3 is already underway. In May 2024, showrunner Ryan Condal told Entertainment Weekly that the show's team was already "deep into" writing season 3, should HBO renew it. Following the season 2 finale, Condal revealed in a press conference that cameras will start rolling on new episodes in early 2025, per Variety.
When will 'House of the Dragon' end?
Following the season 2 finale, showrunner Ryan Condal dropped some surprising news about House of the Dragon during a virtual press conference, per The Hollywood Reporter. In response to speculation on how long the series will last, Condal revealed that House of the Dragon will end with season 4, making the spinoff half the length of its eight-season predecessor Game of Thrones. (Though, considering how contentious those final GoT seasons are, this could be a blessing.)
"I think it’s four,” Condal said of the series' length, before noting that the overall plan for the rest of the show was mapped out after the first season, per THR. He also shared that season 3 will likely also consist of eight episodes.
Condal had already hinted that HotD could end sooner rather than later while speaking to Entertainment Weekly last May.
"You certainly don't want to rush to get to an end, but you also don't want to overstay your welcome," he told the outlet. "You want to find this very satisfying place to go out that ties up enough loose ends and leaves others intentionally open because, as we know, this history marches on for another 150 years to Daenerys."
Which cast members will return for 'House of the Dragon' season 3?
HBO has yet to announce the official cast list, but here's everyone still standing at the end of season 2: For the Blacks, there's Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Targaryen), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen), Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen), Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria), and Tom Taylor (Cregan Stark). Meanwhile, the Greens have Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Fabien Frankel (Ser Criston Cole), Matthew Needham (Larys Strong), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), Phia Saban (Helaena Targaryen), Jefferson Hall (Tyland and Jason Lannister), and Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower), who finally made an appearance in the finale after disappearing for half the season.
Of season 2's new additions, it's most likely that Kieran Bew (Hugh Hammer), Tom Bennett (Ulf), Clinton Liberty (Addam of Hull), and Abubakar Salim (Alyn of Hull) would return. The rest of the cast will depend on where the series takes us, but hopefully season 3 can swing by Harrenhal to bring back Simon Russell Beale (Ser Simon Strong) and Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) as well.
No new casting announcements have been made (to be fair, we're less than a week out from the season 2 finale), but the most highly-anticipated season 3 addition will be Daeron Targaryen, Alicent's fourth child who's set to join the war on his cobalt-colored dragon Tessarion.
What will 'House of the Dragon' season 3 be about?
Spoilers for the House of the Dragon season 2 finale ahead. The season 2 finale (which could also have served as a season 3 premiere, tbh) laid the road for some epic battles heading into season 3. Queen Rhaenyra officially has the most dragons, after the Sowing of the Seeds recruited dragonriders Hugh Hammer, Ulf the White, and Addam of Hull claiming their own winged nukes. Prince Jace is nervous about giving these wild cards such power, and readers know he isn't wrong to be worried (even though the whole "mongrels" bit is a horrible look). Rhaenyra and Daemon's youngest kids are on a ship bound for Pentos, while Rhaena snuck away to claim a wild sheep-stealing dragon; Hand of the Queen Corlys and his illegitimate son Alyn are also setting sail to defend the blockade in the Gullet. And in the show's most mystical twist so far, Daemon is fully Team Rhaenyra after Alys Rivers and Helaena(!) showed him a "Winter is Coming" vision, complete with a Dany cameo.
Meanwhile, Prince Regent Aemond is scrambling after realizing the Blacks have more dragon power. Hand of the King Criston and his army are on the move, but they're no help unless it's a land-based battle. Aemond asks Helaena to ride her dragon, but she doesn't want to "burn anyone," so she rebuffs him, asking if he'll burn her like he did Aegon. Alicent, who is completely over the whole "trapped in a prison of her own making" thing, plans to flee King's Landing with Heleana, and she even agrees with Rhaenyra's deal: a son for a son. However, the severely-wounded Aegon has fled King's Landing (whether he'd likely be killed by either Rhaenyra or Aemond) for Pentos, accompanied by Larys. Oh also, unknown to everyone, Tyland Lannister has succeeded in bringing the Triarchy (the pirate army that Daemon and co. fought in early season 1) over to the Greens' side.
Basically, as hinted by Ramin Djawadi's epic score, there are a ton of battles on the horizon. (We'll just have to wait two years.) Fire & Blood readers know some of what's in store: The Battle of the Gullet will likely happen in the season 3 premiere, where Corlys will think he's only going up against the Lannister navy and instead be met with the Triarchy. Some other battles to anticipate for the spoiler-prone: Rhaenyra's plan to attack King's Landing, the Butcher's Ball, the First Battle of Tumbleton, and maybe even the Battle Above the God’s Eye.
Per THR, Condal has heard fan's criticisms of season 2's anticlimactic finale, and he's promising that once these battles arrive, they'll have a huge impact. During the August 5 press conference, the showrunner said the decision to push the Battle of the Gullet to season three came down to how big the show could go.
“One of the things that came into play in season two is: What is the final destination of the series and where are we going? It was a combination of factors that led us to rebalance the season knowing now where we’re going. … we are trying to give The Gullet — which is arguably the second most anticipated action event of Fire & Blood — trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves.”
When will 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' come out?
After the success of House of the Dragon, HBO greenlit A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new spinoff based on a trio of prequel novellas that take place 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones. (The overall Westeros TV timeline goes HotD, then Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, then GoT.) The new series will follow two fan-favorite characters: Ser Duncan the Tall (a.k.a. Dunk), and his squire Egg (a.k.a. Aegon V Targaryen), as they travel throughout Westeros on quests and adventures. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Condal described the new series as being about "the small folk who suffer at the hands of the game of thrones as it's played by the nobles."
On August 4, 2024, HBO released a sizzle reel that featured the first-ever look at A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The brief clip introduced Dunk (played by Peter Claffey) and the young Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell), while confirming that the new series will make its debut in 2025. So, HotD fans will have a new tale of chivalry to hold us over until House of the Dragon season 3.
