HBO is in the thick of filming on the third season of House of the Dragon, and we are getting lots of interesting reports from the set lately. When you film on location, there's only so much you can hide and they're not hiding much.
Currently the cast and crew are filming, among other places, in Wales, on the island of Llanddwyn. One of the biggest sequences they're filming for season 3 is the Battle of the Gullet, a navel conflict the showrunner Ryan Condal has described as "probably the most complex sequence that's ever been done for television." That sounds like tall talk, but the Battle of the Bullet might just live up to it. Although it set new bars for battle scenes on TV, Game of Thrones never pulled off a big epic navel battle, which gives House of the Dragon room to leave its mark.
The Battle of the Gullet is fought between Corlys Velaryon's fleet of ships on the one hand and pirates from the Triarchy on the other. And the battle isn't limited to the high seas. In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, the Triarchy also invades the island of Driftmark, the seat of House Velaryon. In the video below, we see soldiers running through the surf onto the beach. I'm guessing these are Triarchy soldiers running onto Driftmark to wreck and pillage:
As cenas da S3 filmadas em Llanddwyn se passam em Driftmark e pertencem aos episódios 1 e 2. Loni Peristere (Ep1) dirigiu as cenas de luta entre soldados da Casa Velaryon e piratas da Triarquia. Clare Kilner (Ep2) dirigiu as cenas de pós-batalha com Corlys, Baela, Addam e Alyn.🔥 pic.twitter.com/PnzmewAF4Z
— House the Dragons (@housethedragons) June 27, 2025
We've already seen other evidence of a struggle on Driftmark. This battle will be fought at sea, on land, and in the air, since dragons get involved. Hearing everything it entails, I'm not surprised to hear Condal talk about how complex it is.
The second season of House of the Dragon was originally going to end with the Battle of the Gullet, which wouldh have made for a spectacular stopping point. Unfortunately, HBO cut down the number of episodes in season 2 from 10 to eight, and the battle was pushed back to season 3. It will likely come very early on, probably in the first episode. The season 3 premiere is directed by Loni Peristere, the guy behind the action-heavy episode "The Red Sowing" in season 2. Everything is lining up for season 3 to begin with a big bang.
Unfortunately we won't get to see it for a while. The cast and crew still have a bunch of shooting to do, and then it's into the editing bay to add special effects and cut everything together. Expect the third season of House of the Dragon to air sometimes in the back half of 2026. Early that year, we'll get to watch a new Game of Thrones prequel series called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which should help tide people over just a bit.
More about House of the Dragon:
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.