New House of the Dragon set leaks suggest where season 3 will end—and yes, it's a battle

House of the Dragon continues to film its third season, beginning production back in March in England. Though the second season was met with lukewarm reviews from hardcore fans of the source material and new fans alike, there's a lot to look forward to in the third installment.

Yes, we waited for a war to begin that never fully did in the second season, but now, at long last, we're going to see the most highly-anticipated battle in the Battle of the Gullet and other major moments of the Dance of the Dragons. The wait might be painful, but we're crossing our fingers it'll be worth it when the third season debuts. In the meantime, we're getting clues about where the show is headed through set leaks, letting us know what they're filming and with whom.

Warning: Spoilers from Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon season 3 are below.

In new videos and photos shared by the X account @housethedragons, we see the crew filming at Hankley Common, Surrey, reportedly tackling The First Battle of Tumbleton. Alleged sightings of the Winter Wolves—northerners who support the Blacks—and soldiers from the Riverlands could signal other battles within the Dance, but the timeline seems to match up best. Also, we previously reported on the rehearsals for this battle.

“Exclusive footage from the filming of House of the Dragon season 3, today at Hankley Common, Surrey!” the above tweet reads, translated from Portuguese to English. “The scenes are from episode 8 and feature the Winter Wolves and Riverland soldiers.”

These latest set leaks are reportedly showing filming for episode 8, which marks the season finale. It had previously been reported that Andrij Parekh would be helming the episode, and as he was allegedly seen on set working, it wasn't hard for sleuthers to determine that's what they're filming.

“Photos of Team Black's army from today's filming at Hankley Common, Surrey!” the above tweet reads, translated from Portuguese to English. “You can see the Winter Wolves and soldiers from Houses Targaryen, Tully, Blackwood, Bracken, Mallister, and Vance. The scenes are being directed by Andrij Parekh (Episode 8).”

Filming is expected to run until October, so it's also possible that they could film more scenes for the finale, though I wonder if they’ll be able to cram more than a battle into one episode. (As we’ve seen with this show, the pacing can be very slow.) If they're filming the First Battle of Tumbleton for the finale, that's likely where it will conclude.

Considering the show has been confirmed to end with the fourth season, that gives us a better idea of how to map out the story. After the First Battle of Tumbleton, they'll still need to get to other big moments—including major deaths and the highly anticipated Battle Above the Gods Eye—which will likely go down in the final installment.

“Winter Wolves in action! 🚨,” the above tweet reads, translated from Portuguese to English. “According to our sources, we'll hear the Winter Wolves HOWLING on the battlefield.”

In an exclusive report from the @housethedragons account, they share that Daemon reunites with the Winter Wolves and the Riverlands in the season finale. “In scenes filmed yesterday in Surrey, directed by Andrij Parekh (episode 8), Daemon dismounts Caraxes and rides alongside Roderick Dustin and Oscar Tully,” they write on X—translated from Portuguese to English.

Ahead of filming for the battle beginning, it was reported that it would take a month to complete, and would take place at multiple locations.

Earlier this year, showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed that there would be "four major events from the book" featured in season 3. Of course, one of those will be the Battle of the Gullet, which will take place early on in the season. We're also expecting to see the Fall of King's Landing, unless major changes are made. Fans are hopeful we'll get the Battle by the Lakeshore, the bloodiest on-land battle of the whole Dance. But, of course, budget restraints could impact the number of war sequences we get.

While House of the Dragon is based on Fire & Blood—George R.R. Martin’s Targaryen history book, taking place hundreds of thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones—the HBO series has made many changes from the book over the course of the two seasons. This means, really, that anything goes. We have a playbook for what events should unfold, but the writers are bound to change it to some degree.

House of the Dragon season 3 is expected to release on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2026.

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