The Targaryen dynasty will continue, by fire and by blood.
As House of the Dragon season 2 nears its dramatic end, fans are already looking to what season 3 could have in store.
Although scenes from the final episode of the HBO series have leaked online, many are avoiding the spoilers as best they can, as we approach episode 8 and await the next season.
HBO has now addressed the leak, saying it is “aggressively monitoring and removing” any scenes from the internet pre-release.
So far, season 2 has seen a brutal civil war erupt between the Greens and Blacks, already resulting in tragic death and destruction – and we have no doubt that more is on the way.
There’s also a lot more of George RR Martin’s novel Fire & Blood left to cover, with showrunner Ryan Condal previously telling RadioTimes.com that writing season 2 has given him more clarity on future seasons.
So, as we head towards the end of season 2, here’s everything we know so far about House of the Dragon season 3 and the future of the Targaryen dynasty.
Warning: spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 so far.
House of the Dragon season 3 release date speculation
While there’s no confirmed release date for season 3 at this early stage, we’d guess at an early to mid 2026 release date.
As any Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon fan knows, the scale of the HBO series is absolutely epic, and it takes a long time to put together.
There were two years between seasons 1 and 2, so we’d guess that the timeline between seasons 2 and 3 will be similar. At the moment, we’re predicting production will take place in 2025 but we’ll keep this page updated with any new developments and any production news.
House of the Dragon was renewed for season 3 in June 2024, before season 2 had even been released, showing huge faith in the Thrones spin-off.
HBO’s programming and drama series chief Francesca Orsi said at the time: “George, Ryan and the rest of our incredible executive producers, cast and crew have reached new heights with the phenomenal second season.
“We are in awe of the dragon-sized effort the entire team has put into the creation of a spectacular season 2, with a scope and scale that is only rivalled by its heart.
“We could not be more thrilled to continue the story of House Targaryen and watch this team burn bright again for season 3.”
Who will be in the cast of House of the Dragon season 3?
Currently, we’d expect the following cast members to return for House of the Dragon season 3 – but bear in mind we still have a fiery finale to get through.
We’d certainly expect most of the Targaryen clan to be back in business as we head towards season 3. The final episodes of the season have also placed greater emphasis on the dragonseeds, or the Targaryen bastards, including Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) and Ulf White (Tom Bennett), so we’d expect them to take on a bigger role going forward.
One character we’re not expecting to see back is the Queen Who Never Was, Rhaenys Targaryen (played by Eve Best).
In a shocking and brutal episode 4, the beloved character was killed off in a fiery clash with Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), who also left his own brother, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), badly wounded.
While fans were also excited to see the appearance of Blood and Cheese, played by Sam C Wilson and Mark Stobbart, we’re certainly not expecting to see them back for any more either. Similarly, episode 1 saw the brutal death of a young Jaehaerys Targaryen, the eldest son of Aegon Targaryen.
Elsewhere, while many viewers were excited at the prospect of seeing Nettles, a fan-favourite character from the books, appear in season 2, it appears her story has been conflated with Princess Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell).
In the books, it’s Nettles who claims the dragon Sheepstealer but, from what we’ve seen so far, it appears that storyline has been handed to Rhaena instead.
While no new cast members have been confirmed for season 3 just yet, we’re not ruling out flashback scenes – especially after the shock returns of season 2.
Fans were stunned to see the return of Milly Alcock as young Rhaenyra and Paddy Considine as the late King Viserys as part of Daemon Targaryen’s visions. Could old cast members be back for more?
We also could see the arrival of even more Targaryen children, as some of them haven’t arrived yet, including Aegon’s younger son Prince Maelor who, in the book, had a role to play in the Blood and Cheese storyline.
In the show, however, Condal reasoned that, due to shortened timelines, Maelor couldn’t be born yet.
Condal explained to RadioTimes.com: “In our writing of season 1, we had to compress time a bit to get through 30 years of history, essentially, in what ended up being 20 years, just so that we didn’t have to recast every character.
“I think as time marches on longer and longer, it became more challenging to tell all that story in one season, and season 1 was a challenge in and of itself.
“So, essentially, we
made 30 years happen in 20 years, and that just meant some of the youngest kids in the story weren’t around, or were younger than they are in the books – Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children, for one, and then certainly Helaena and Aegon.
“Maelor is not yet in the narrative in this, in the story, so that was a change.”
That might suggest the new generation of Targaryen children are on the way in season 3!
What could the plot of House of the Dragon season 3 be?
We don’t know the specifics of the plot of season 3 just yet, but we’d expect it to continue to follow Martin’s book Fire & Blood – albeit with some deviations along the way, as we’ve seen in season 2.
Where we pick up in season 3 will of course depend on where we leave off in season 2, but book fans will know there are plenty more epic battles, bloodshed and death on the horizon (which we won’t spoil here!).
Showrunner Ryan Condal previously told RadioTimes.com of future seasons: “There’s a history that marches on for decades after this. So it’s not about ending the Targaryen history. It’s just finding the place to close the curtain on this particular time…
“We’re trying to find the satisfying television ending or the conclusion where we can leave everybody knowing that time marches on from here, but we’ve brought this dramatic story to a close.
“So, I think that’s become very clear as we’ve just gotten farther down the timeline. But I’m not ready to yet talk about how many episodes or seasons are left.
“But I think the nice thing is we know where we’re going, we have all the material that we need, because the book is written and hopefully we can bring this to a satisfying conclusion.”
Meanwhile, Emma D’Arcy told IGN: “Oh my God, by the end of season 2, I was a f**king shell of myself.
“I was a husk. I could not form a sentence. I was so tired. I need to implement some way of getting through season 3, if there’s a season 3, to really harness as much energy as possible. It is a behemoth.”
How many episodes could House of the Dragon season 3 consist of?
House of the Dragon season 3 does not yet have a confirmed episode count, but we’d expect it to have between eight and 10 episodes.
Season 1 consisted of 10 episodes, while season 2 consisted of eight episodes.
How many seasons of House of the Dragon will there be?
It’s not confirmed how many seasons House of the Dragon will get and, currently, nothing is confirmed beyond season 3.
However, considering the success of the series and where we’re at in terms of book events, we’d expect at least to get to four.
Condal previously stayed tight-lipped when asked by RadioTimes.com about how many seasons we can expect, saying: “I’m not ready to yet talk about how many episodes or seasons left.
“But I think the nice thing is we we know where we’re going, we have all the material that we need, because the book is written and hopefully we can bring this to a satisfying conclusion.”
Is there a trailer for House of the Dragon season 3?
Not yet! We’ll keep this page updated with any footage that comes our way.