Filming on House of the Dragon continues throughout the summer and part of the fall, seeing the cast and crew tackle major moments such as the First Battle of Tumbleton and other highly anticipated scenes from the book, Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. As with the first two seasons, we can expect book changes in the next installment as the writers take creative liberties with the source material, which is notably unreliable.
While book changes are to be expected at this point, that doesn’t mean diehard fans of the Game of Thrones universe are happy about them. Case in point: A new leak from the third season has circulated on social media this week, and without knowing the full context, fans are very angry. Here’s what happened.
Dreamfyre might be making a bigger appearance in season 3
On Wednesday, trusted leaker @housethedragons on X shared a big detail from the third season: Yes, if this leak is true, we’ll finally get to see more of Helaena's dragon Dreamfyre; however, Rhaenyra will be involved in the scene somehow, too. "In a scene filmed on the set of the Dragonpit at Leavesden Studios, Phia Saban (Helaena) and Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra) performed alongside the dragon," the tweet reads.
EXCLUSIVO: Dreamfyre na 3ª temporada! 🚨
— House the Dragons (@housethedragons) August 13, 2025
A dragão Dreamfyre, montaria de Helaena Targaryen, estará na S3 de House of the Dragon!
Em uma cena filmada no set do Fosso dos Dragões, no Leavesden Studios, Phia Saban (Helaena) e Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra) contracenaram com a dragão. pic.twitter.com/oH0cBO9okN
In Fire & Blood, Helaena bonds with her she-dragon as a young girl, but unfortunately, after Blood & Cheese forces her to isolate herself from everyone, she doesn’t ride Dreamfyre anymore. Fans had been wondering if or how Dreamfyre might be incorporated into the show, not knowing if Helaena’s storyline would follow what happens to her in the book or not.
Fans speculate how the scene might play out, and they don’t like their guesses
While it seems as though fans are happy to hear we might be getting scenes with Dreamfyre, others are scratching their heads about how Rhaenyra might be involved, and are already coming up with predictions that are making them frustrated. In the book, Rhaenyra and Helaena don’t have any major interactions like this, leading many to wonder why Rhaenyra would be included.
“Let me guess: Rhaenyra asks Helaena to calm Dreamfyre, but when Helaena is too afraid, Rhaenyra steps in and successfully does it herself,” one annoyed viewer speculated on Reddit, while another wrote, "Are they kidding? Seriously? Can they allow the 'side' characters to even exist outside of the main three screen time?? Omg this is ridiculous. Helaena will probably have more scenes with Rhaenyra than with her brothers."
“WHY THEY HAVE TO SHOEHORN RHAENYRA IN WHHHYYYY JUST WHYYY,” another wrote, and another added, “OH MY F**KING GOOOOOD! Team Green cant have anything without Rhaenyra there.”
Clearly, fans are angry over the possibility that Rhaenyra is being written into a scene that there is no evidence of happening in the book, which I get. But on the other hand…
Whether you like it or not, Rhaenyra is the main character of House of the Dragon
While it might be disappointing for fans of the book to see so many changes in the show, you can’t deny that the writers have made Rhaenyra the main character, and they need to make choices to keep this consistent.
Fire & Blood is written as a Targaryen history book, and at the end of the day, a straight-up page-to-screen adaptation of it is not what the writers want. And, honestly, I doubt that’s what most viewers would want, either. It wouldn’t be a narrative, dramatized story; it’d be like a documentary.
You could argue that there are very few relatable characters in Fire & Blood, and that just doesn’t work for an HBO drama that people want to keep tuning in to each week. Because the book is not a novelization, the series needs to create scenes that connect viewers to the characters.
Now, I’ll agree that a lot of the Rhaenyra and Alicent scenes added for the show have been questionable, I know. But at the same time, there is no perfect way to adapt this book. It's a huge undertaking, and it's a job that's more difficult than adapting Game of Thrones.
Have we approached a melodramatic soapy vibe with House of the Dragon? Yes, and that’s disappointing. I'm not saying I agree with all of this. But to be surprised that Rhaenyra would be written into more scenes in the third season suggests you haven’t been paying attention to the show's trajectory. And hey, getting more Emma D'Arcy is never a bad thing. They're incredible.
House of the Dragon season 3 is expected to premiere on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2026.