We've known for a while that HBO would start filming the third season of its Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon this month. Now, we have a timeline. "[The writing for season 3 is] essentially done and we start [filming] in a couple of weeks," showrunner Ryan Condal said at an FYC press event for the show, per Gold Derby. Very soon, the likes of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and the rest will return to work.
Condal, D'Arcy, Smith, and Cooke all appeared on the panel, together with stars Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen), and executive producer Sara Hess. "As the actors embody the characters, it actually becomes much easier to write in a more interesting way, because you get to know everybody really well," Condal continued. "For Season 3, there's much more shape and depth to it right out of the gate, because you're writing for people you know...There are some major new characters this season, but 85 percent of them, we already knew who they were, and it just makes it much more rewarding to write."
We already know about a few new characters on the way, like Alicent's cousin Ormund Hightower, played by James Norton. And the second season teased that Alicent's son Daeron Targaryen would make an appearance, although we don't know who's playing him yet.
The third season of the show will continue to adapt the events of George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, which tells the story of the Dance of the Dragons, a brutal civil war between rival factions of the Targaryen dynasty. "Season 2 is huge. Season 3 is huger, in many ways," Condal said. "There are, by my quick count on stage, four major events from the book that we get to adapt and realize in three dimensions in this season. That's really exciting on a scope-and-scale perspective, and I think it's the thing the show does really well. The things that we're building are mind-boggling."
We know at least one of those book events will be the Battle of the Gullet, a "beastly" action sequence originally intended for the end of season 2; it got pushed, and HBO has promised that it will be "worth the wait."
There will be a "conceptual episode" in House of the Dragon season 3
"But what I'm most excited about from a dramatic perspective is that we got to have a little fun this season, and there's a conceptual episode, meaning that it isn't in the traditional vernacular of what we've laid out as the structure of a House of the Dragon episode," Condal continued. "It's very character-driven, and I think it's really great and I'm really excited to see it rendered."
As for what Condal could mean here, it's hard to guess. The show has already shown itself willing to color outside the lines of the Game of Thrones playbook; for instance, it spent a lot of time in season 2 exploring Daemon Targaryen's dreams, even though the original show almost never had dream sequences or flashbacks. When I hear "conceptual episode," my first thought is an episode that spends most of its time with a set number of characters in one location, but it really could be anything.
All of this is pretty vague, as it should be. The biggest confirmation we got is that Rhaenyra Targaryen will likely carry some kind of blade in season 3, something Emma D'Arcy had said they wanted to do and something Rhaenyra talked about in season 2. "I got what I wanted, folks," D'Arcy teased.
The third season of House of the Dragon will air on HBO and Max sometime in 2026.
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