One of the stars of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is heading to Westeros for House of the Dragon season 3.
According to a report from Wiki of Thrones, Dylan Smith will join the House of the Dragon season 3 cast. Smith previously starred in the first two seasons of Rings of Power as Lardo Brandyfoot, who is one of the most prominent Harfoots featured in the series. He is the father of Nori, played by Markella Kavenagh.
At the time of publishing, it looks like Smith could return to The Rings of Power for season 3, but it's unclear if that's going to happen. The story moved away from Smith's character in season 2, and while I do see a future for the Harfoots in The Rings of Power, it might not be until season 4 or even season 5.
Dylan Smith's character is connected to Aegon Targaryen and Larys Strong in House of the Dragon season 3
Because the casting has not been officially announced and instead reported by a fan account, we still don't know who Smith is going to play in the new season of the HBO series. Luckily, we won't have to wait too long. While filming is still taking place through October 2025, HBO recently revealed House of the Dragon season 3 will premiere sometime in June 2026.
It's been reported that Smith's character will be included in scenes with Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys Strong (Matthew Needham). His character could be pivotal in the war against Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). As far as I know, there's no relation between Dylan and Matt.
There are probably more than a few Fire & Blood fans who could predict who Smith will be playing in the new season, but it could be dozens of characters at this point.
Smith will join an ever-growing House of the Dragon season 3 cast, along with D'Arcy, Glynn-Carney, Needham, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Steve Toussaint, Ewan Mitchell, Phoebe Campbell, Sonoya Mizuno, Gayle Rankin, and many more.
Many Lord of the Rings stars appeared on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon
When Smith joins House of the Dragon season 3, he will join a list of many Lord of the Rings stars who have eventually made their way to Westeros. Sean Bean, who played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings movies, starred in Game of Thrones as Ned Stark. He's the most famous of the bunch, for sure.
Joseph Mawle, who played Benjen Stark in Game of Thrones, took a little trip to Middle-earth as Adar in The Rings of Power season 1. Mawle left the series after the first season for other projects, though, and Sam Hazeldine took over the role for season 2.
Graham McTavish, who stars in House of the Dragon season 1 as Harold Westerling, also starred in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy as one of the main dwarves, Dwalin. McTavish is a staple in fantasy and historical dramas, including The Witcher and Outlander.
Then, we also have Ciarán Hinds, who starred as Mance Rayder in several seasons of Game of Thrones. Hinds plays the Dark Wizard in The Rings of Power season 2. I believe Hinds will, again, be playing the role in season 3, as well, but we haven't heard for sure yet.
Last but certainly not least, we have Robert Aramayo, who famously plays Elrond in The Rings of Power. He's one of the three most important characters in the series. He originally played a younger Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.
We'll share more news about The Rings of Power season 3 and House of the Dragon season 3 when we find out! Stay tuned!