House Of The Dragon Season 3 Is Finally In Production
Here’s everything we know so far.
Season 2 of House of the Dragon was something of a sophomore slump. HBO’s primetime fantasy has always been a slow burn, content to explore the relationships that brought doom to the Targaryen dynasty rather than the battles that sped up their demise. But as the cold war between Team Black and Team Green heats up, fans of George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood are expecting swords to clash and dragons to join the fray. We didn’t get much of that last season, but the battle is set to finally begin in earnest.
With Season 2 fading into the rearview, it’s time to look forward. Work has begun on House of the Dragon Season 3: here’s everything we know about it so far, from its potential release date to the conflicts on the horizon.
Will there be a House of the Dragon Season 3?
Rhaenyra and Alicent forged a tentative truce at the end of Season 2.
Yes — House of the Dragon Season 3 got the green light in summer 2024, before the show’s Season 2 premiere. It’s been almost a year since HBO made the announcement, but on March 31, 2025, House of the Dragon officially began production on Season 3. It may still be some time before the season hits HBO and Max, but hopefully the wait won’t be as long as the delay between Seasons 1 and 2.
Do we know the House of the Dragon Season 3 release date?
There’s no release date for House of the Dragon Season 3 yet, but the show could follow the pattern set by Seasons 1 and 2. The show premiered in 2022 and returned with its second season in 2024, meaning Season 3 could be ready by Summer 2026. Ideally, it could arrive even sooner, as this season won’t be hit by pandemic-related delays or the writers’ and actors’ strikes.
What is the House of the Dragon Season 3 plot?
House of the Dragon Season 2 was a slowburn, but Season 3 will bring us the bloodshed we’ve been waiting for.
Season 2 kicked the Targaryens’ civil war into a higher gear, but stopped just short of delivering the spectacle fans have been waiting years to see. The action and drama came in fits and starts: House of the Dragon adapted “Blood and Cheese” and the Battle of Rook’s Rest, but the cast spent more time making plans and enduring trippy visions than fighting. The final episodes set the stage for the Battle of the Gullet, one of the bloodiest events in Thrones history. Rather than ending on the conflict, however, Season 2 departed on a bewildering cliffhanger, just before Team Green’s navy, led by Ser Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) and Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), could attack Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) of Team Black.
We’ll finally get the carnage we’ve been craving in Season 3. “I will say that the war this season goes very hot, very, very quickly,” said Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon’s showrunner, in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly. “I think the people that were waiting and waiting for all of the horrible, brutal, pitiless bloodshed will be getting it in copious amounts.”
House of the Dragon Season 3 will also keep exploring the tensions between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). The estranged childhood friends have been at odds for years, but seemed to reach a temporary truce at the end of Season 2. How that will evolve as the show soldiers on may make or break the battles to come.
Who’s in the cast of House of the Dragon Season 3?
Lines have been drawn between Team Black and Team Green.
House of the Dragon Season 2 played it relatively safe, but it did take a few players off the board. Season 3 will continue the Dance of Dragons without Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), Erryk and Arryk Cargyll (Elliot and Luke Tittensor), and Jaehaerys Targaryen II (Michael Carter).
The new season will add three cast members in Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), and James Norton (Little Women). Flanagan joins as Ser Roderick Dustin, aka Roddy the Ruin, the leader of a northern army known as the Winter Wolves. Fogler will play another northman, Ser Torrhen Manderly, while Norton has been cast as Ormund Hightower, a fan favorite from Fire & Blood.
Season 3 may also finally introduce Daeron Targaryen, a pivotal royal family member who’s only been mentioned in passing. His absence in Season 2 caused a bit of unrest within the fandom, but Ryan Condal told EW that he’ll appear soon, saying, “He’s a big feature in the book, but if you read the book narrative sequentially, the material we’ve covered so far didn’t really have a lot of call for Daeron in it, which is why we’re getting to this now.”
Here’s everyone else returning for the new season:
- Team Black: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Corlys “The Sea Snake” Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett), Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell), Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia), Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), Ulf the White (Tom Bennett), Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew).
- Team Green: Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Aegon Targaryen II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), Otto Hightower (Rhys Idans), Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox).
Is there a trailer for House of the Dragon Season 3?
House of the Dragon Season 3 could be a “midpoint” for the series.
There’s no trailer for House of the Dragon Season 3 yet. With the series currently in production, it may be a while before we get our first look at the next chapter.
How many seasons of House of the Dragon will there be?
HBO has yet to set its plans in stone, but showrunner Ryan Condal has been vocal about wanting to end the show around Season 4. Condal told EW that the upcoming season will bring the series to the beginning of its third act, saying House of the Dragon is “cresting that narrative parabola here and starting to come down into, if not the endgame, the midpoint.” That could leave Season 4 to wrap the story in a bloody bow. Whether Condal and his team can trace the Dance of Dragons from beginning to end in just four eight-episode seasons remains to be seen, but so far, it’s been worth watching to find out.
