Game of Thrones may have ended pretty badly, but there’s still a lot of interest in the world of Westeros thanks to the prequel spinoff House of the Dragon.
The series is now gearing up for Season 3 which is currently in development, and though HBO hasn’t revealed anything official, some new details have come out as for what to expect in the upcoming season.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Details
A House of the Dragon panel was held at the TV Academy’s Saban Media Center (via GoldDerby) which was moderated by Josh Horowitz (Happy Sad Confused). Included in the panel were actors Matt Smith (Daemon), Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra), Olivia Cooke (Alicent), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Fabiel Frankel (Ser Criston), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon II), and Ewan Mitchell (Aemond); they were also joined by showrunners Ryan Condal and Sara Hess.
Though most of the talk was about Season 2, Condal does share some of the progress in which Season 3 is currently at. He says the season is "essentially done and we start [filming] in a couple of weeks… There are some major new characters this season, but 85 percent of them, we already knew who they were, and it just makes it much more rewarding to write."
Condal doesn’t go into great detail as to who exactly is going to be returning, but he does confirm that fans should expect four major events from Fire and Blood to come to the big screen. He says:
“Season 2 is huge. Season 3 is huger, in many ways. There are, by my quick count on stage, four major events from the book that we get to adapt and realize in three dimensions in this season. That's really exciting on a scope-and-scale perspective, and I think it's the thing the show does really well.”
Condal also confirms that the series will have a ‘conceptual episode’ that plays differently from how the episodes usually go, and it will be ‘character-driven’.
D’Arcy also hints that Rhaenyra could be wielding a sword in the third season, and there will also be a returning fan-favorite with Condal saying, “the GOAT is back.”
House of the Dragon vs. Fire and Blood
House of the Dragon had been getting generally great reviews, but it has already started amassing some toxicity online—which isn’t a surprise since this happens whenever a series diverts from an event in the book, or puts the focus on women.
It also doesn’t help that author George R.R. Martin also went public about how annoyed he was at the show for cutting certain characters, and he expects some major events in the books not to have the same kind of impact in the series.
It’s unclear what direction Condal will go after all the flak received from fans, but hopefully they manage to go a direction that is consistent with their creative vision while at the same time satisfying for anyone who is a fan of the books. There’s always room for wishful thinking at this point.
No release date has been announced for House of the Dragon Season 3 yet, but fans are expecting something by next year. The first two seasons are currently streaming on HBO Max.