A few months back, before filming on the third season of House of the Dragon began, the cast and crew of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series sat down with Josh Horowitz for an episode of his Happy Sad Confused podcast. The video of the panel interview just went up on YouTube, and I noticed some interesting things Condal was saying about what's to come.
I want to focus on the part where Condal talks about all the "point-of-view characters" who will feature in the third season: "We have 19 point-of-view characters in the show, and when we say point-of-view it means a character [who] can have their own scene without another one of the characters in it. And we try to be fairly rigid about who are POV characters in the show because it helps keep your arms around it so it doesn't feel like you're all over the field all the time, and it feels like you're seeing the show through a certain POV. It's exciting, cause it's a lot to service, and it gives you a lot of opportunity to do those recombinations...It also demonstrates and dramatizes the sprawl and breadth and scope of this epic story that we're telling."
I haven't heard a showrunner use this framing to talk about a show they're making before, but I can see how it makes sense for House of the Dragon, which is a huge ensemble show with lots of characters moving to and fro. Part of me thinks that putting a limit on which characters can appear alone would stifle creativity; what if it would be useful to spend time with a tertiary character for the space of a scene? Then again, 19 characters is a lot.
But who are they? Let's see if we can figure out the identities of all 19 point-of-view characters featured in season 3:
- Rhaenyra Targaryen
- Daemon Targaryen
- Alicent Hightower
- Corlys Velaryon
- Jacaerys Velaryon
- Aegon Targaryen
- Aemond Targaryen
- Helaena Targaryen
- Daeron Targaryen
- Otto Hightower
- Rhaena Targaryen
- Baela Targaryen
- Larys Strong
- Criston Cole
- Hugh Hammer
- Ulf White
- Alyn of Hull
- Addam of Hull
- Alys Rivers
That list came easier than I thought it might; I'm making some guesses, like including Alicent Hightower's yet-to-be-introduced son Daeron Targaryen in the mix. He has an important role to play in the book and is very likely one of the "major new characters" Condal promises are coming in season 3.
The list still seems a little short to me. I can think of other characters it might be helpful to visit on their own, like Lord Cregan Stark or some of the ancillary members of Rhaenyra and Aegon's small council. I hope the producers aren't afraid to explore some of the minor characters if that's what the scene, episode or story call for.
We'll find out more when the third season of House of the Dragon airs on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2026.
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