HBO is filming the third season of House of the Dragon as we speak. War is afoot in Westeros, as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother King Aegon Targaryen fight for the Iron Throne.
The season will open with a big action sequence called the Battle of the Gullet, where Corlys Velaryon's fleet of ships will face off against a pirate fleet led by Sharako Lohar. It'll be the first big sea battle depicted in the Game of Thrones universe, and the cast and crew have been talking it up a lot.
"No spoilers, but what we have planned for this season is huge," Steve Toussaint, who plays Corlys, told Awards Radar. "The are some things that I have been told that I’ve never done on television before. It’s amazing! We were walking around the set just a couple of days ago, discussing the details on the paintings and the carvings on the columns. It’s truly amazing. I’m constantly amazed at the crafts people who work on the show. I told Loni (Peristere, one of the directors from the series): 'I’m so glad that I don’t have to keep all of this memorized, like you'...It’s a massive undertaking and an absolute thrill to be a part of it."
Showrunner Ryan Condal has called the Battle of the Gullet "probably the most complex sequence that's ever been done for television." So the team is setting expectations very high. Let's hope they meet them.
Corlys Velaryon has mixed feelings about Rhaenyra Targaryen
As for Corlys, he's still smarting from the loss of his wife Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who died in the season 2 after an epic battle fought in mid-air on dragonback above the castle of Rook's Rest. Corlys won't just bounce back from a loss like that, especially after both his children and one of his grandchildren have also died.
"I was recently discussing Season 3 with someone, and I said: 'The only time that Corlys smiles brightly is with her presence,' Toussaint said. "The only time he’s completely relaxed with himself is with her. These are things we discovered through playing these characters. A lot of that came from the fact that Eve and I liked each other anyway. We had wonderful conversations on set about all sorts of things. She’s a very funny and kind lady. She was kind enough to laugh at my jokes. That gets you a long way in my book."
Without his wife around to fight for, what is Corlys after? He's supporting Queen Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne, but in large part because that's what Rhaenys would have wanted. "His relationship to the crown was complicated, nuanced," Toussaint said. "If you look at the two candidates, Rhaenyra and Aegon, she clearly is the right choice. But his family has been hurt by being close to the Targaryens. His daughter then dies after being married to the brother of the King. He’s ambivalent towards the Targaryens, and Rhaenyra in particular."
For Corlys, it's more about ensuring that his name will carry on after he's gone, something he's been preoccupied with since the start of the series, although he's less fanatical about it now than he used to be. "Without spoilers, if you watched the first two seasons, it will make sense," Toussaint assured fans. "He basically is now about his legacy and what he leaves behind. At one point, he tries to name his granddaughter as his heir. Some people believe that the heir of Driftmark has to be salt and sea. He’s looking for that person. He’s looking for a vehicle for his name to continue. There is nobody else, his children are dead. The grandson who would’ve been the heir to Driftmark has also died."
"No spoilers, but that does leave his two illegitimate children. As we see at the end of Season 2, Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) wants nothing to do with him. He hates him because of what he did. Corlys is in search of making a lasting legacy. He wants to keep the promises he made to his wife. We open Season 3 in a state of war for the succession."
In season 2, Corlys did connect a bit with his two illegitimate children, Alyn of Hull and his brother Addam (Clinton Liberty). But he'll have a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to win them over, especially Addam. If you've read George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, you have some idea of where that plotline is going. If you haven't, you're in the same boat as Toussaint ("I’ll probably read the book when we finish this thing," he says) and you can find out together.
The third season of House of the Dragon will likely air on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2026.
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