House of the Dragon season 3: See rehearsals for huge battle scene

One thing's for sure: the third season of House of the Dragon is going to be a spectacle. We've been following the filming of season 3 behind the scenes for the while, and the team is mounting some huge sequences. The season will kick off with an epic navel fight called the Battle of the Gullet; they finally seem to be done filming that one. The cast and crew have now moved onto another huge action scene, this one coming at the end of the season: the First Battle of Tumbleton.

I don't want to give away too much about this battle, but we've heard Tumbleton mentioned before; in season 2, Hugh Hammer's wife Kat (Ellora Torchia) mentioned wanting to flee there, since she has family in the area and her home city of King's Landing was becoming increasingly dangerous as the Dance of the Dragons civil war continues. Tumbleton is located southwest of King's Landing in the Reach. In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, it's the location of a battle involving the Hightower army, fighting for King Aegon II Targaryen; an assortment of blacks fighting for Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, and a couple of dragons. That's all I'll say, but I don't think Kat's idea that Tumbleton will provide refuge is going to work out.

Anyway, HBO is going hard making this sequence as spectacular as possible. To start, they've built an impressive set for the town at Leavesden Studios in England:

But a battle this big won't be filmed in just one location; according to House the Dragons, it'll be shot on no less than eight sets and then stitched together in the editing room. There will be shooting on the King's Road, in three different battle camps, and more. As we speak, actors playing soldiers are rehearsing in Surrey, England. House the Dragons has the footage:

Filming begins any minute and is set to last a month, which is a very long time to film a battle scene. They spent even longer filming the Battle of the Gullet, which showrunner Ryan Condal has called "probably the most complex sequence that's ever been done for television."

It's appreciate the ambition, even if we have a while to wait before we see the fruits of these labors. Although HBO hasn't announced an official date, smart money has the third season of House of the Dragon airing sometime in the back half of 2026. After that there's only season left to wrap up the show, which could get tricky as there's still a ton that happens in this story after the First Battle of Tumbleton, at least if the show intends to stick to the text of George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood. We'll keep an eye on things as they develop.

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