At Long Last, We Have a House of the Dragon Season 3 Release Date

5 min read

Dragons will fly on the small screen once again. The upcoming third season of House of the Dragon plans to start with a big battle that Game of Thrones fans have been asking for since the end of season 2, and the latest trailer looks to confirm that it was well worth the wait.

As all-out war between the two Targaryen families reaches a fever pitch this season, the new footage reveals dragons flying over ships and burning them to a crisp at the much-anticipated Battle of the Gullet. We also see Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Daemon (Matt Smith) flying their dragons over King’s Landing, and another land-locked battle will armies swarming in from every side. If it’s anything like showrunner Ryan Condal described in a recent interview with Variety, we’re all in for the “craziest episode of TV ever made.”

Hopefully, it will all make up for a less-than-sizzling sophomore season that left fans wanting more. But after a rowdy good time over in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, spirits are looking high for the fantasy franchise once again. You can watch the new trailer below.

According to HBO, season 3 takes flight with eight new episodes starting on June 21. The story picks up right where season 2’s lukewarm finale left off, teasing the violent and pivotal Battle of the Gullet. The new trailer also introduces House of Guinness‘s James Norton as Ormund Hightower, Lord of Oldtown and cousin to Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Last we heard of him, Ormund was assembling his forces to confront Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) at the end of season 2. His army is now on the march alongside Daeron and his dragon, Tessarion.

“We act with holy purpose to restore the rightful king,” Norton’s Ormund Hightower says in one of the other trailers for season below. Then, we see the horrific visage of Tom Glynn-Carney’s Aegon II Targaryen, who was burned and crushed by his dragon in season 2. What follows is loads of sword swinging, screaming, and blood faces—with House of the Dragon season 3 promising to deliver on the promises they made last season.

The drama is looking real in season 3 so far. In a virtual press conference in June 2024, showrunner Ryan Condal addressed why audiences may have felt deflated by season 2’s finale. Condal’s reasoning stemmed from resource management (they ran out of time and money for another big battle), as well as the way the creative team charted the road map moving forward. Of course, it seems a feud with creator George R. R. Martin also created some friction.

“When you’re a showrunner, you’re always in the position of having to balance storytelling and the resources that you have available to tell that story,” Condal said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “We wanted to rebalance the story in such a way that we had three great seasons of television [after season 1]… When you’re trying to mount the show, which requires a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armor, costumes, visual effects … we are trying to give the Gullet—which is arguably the second most anticipated action event of Fire & Blood—the time and the space that it deserves.”

“We are building to that event that will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling, and it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off,” Condal continued. “We just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it’s deserved. We also wanted to build some anticipation toward it. So I apologize for the wait.”

For everything else we know about House of the Dragon season 3, follow along below.

Who Will Return in House of the Dragon Season 3?

Mostly everyone! Season 2 claimed only a few lives in Westeros, among them the young Prince Jaehaerys, Rhaenys Targaryen, and her dragon, Meleys. Episode 7 also saw Lord Blackwood meet his end, while House Darklyn took some heavy losses. Ser Criston Cole cut off Lord Darklyn’s head in episode 4, and in episode 6 Seasmoke burned Steffon Darklyn to a crisp. Despite those casualties, the cast’s remaining power players should return for season 3.

Expect some new actors to join the series as well, including whoever will play Daeron Targaryen. Currently, House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, and Harry Collett as Jace Velaryon.

What Will Happen in Season 3?

King Aegon II himself, Tom Glynn-Carney, said “It’s all up in the air, mate” in a June 2024 Esquire interview. “I’m speaking from an angle of not knowing anything about the plan, but I highly doubt they’ll do what they did with Game of Thrones and carry on after the book finishes.” As he sees it, “I think our story will run its course and everyone will move on.”

Glynn-Carney also teased that the story may deviate from writer George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. “The books are the foundation of where we’re going narratively, but things are tweaked,” he revealed. “It’s the bible, but it’s also not. The writers of our show are brilliant and should be given credit for their creation. George R.R. Martin should be given credit for his creation. But they’re not the same thing.”

Still, House of the Dragon has stayed very close to its source material. Based on season 2’s finale, it seems that the series is headed toward the Battle of the Gullet. Corlys Velaryon is sailing out to join his blockade, the dragon seeds are assembling to fight, and Rhaenyra is declaring that the time to strike is now. Meanwhile, Team Green earned the help of the Triarchy pirates, Aegon II escaped to the East, and Aemond is headed to Harrenhal with Cole to fight Daemon.

When Will Season 3 Premiere?

House of the Dragon season 3 premieres on June 21, 2026 on HBO.

Condal told Inverse in 2024: “Knowing where we’re going in season 3 … we have a good plan and we know the road map and how to get there.” Let’s just hope that plan involves dragon fights. Many dragon fights.