Shots and surprises from the latest leg of filming on House of the Dragon season 3

Over the past few weeks, the cast and crew of House of the Dragon have been busy filming season 3 in Wales, and we've lots of look-sees. According to House the Dragons, which tirelessly brings us photos from the front lines, this leg of filming is officially done. The account is recapping some of things things we have seen, starting with some images of the huge pieces of machinery HBO has brought to areas like Anglesey and Snowdonia:

The cast and crew also spent time in Dinorwic Quarry, which you can see above. The quarry will stand in for the castle of Harrenhal, where Daemon Targaryen gathered an army last season; and the Vale, where Rhaena Targaryen was sent before stumbling upon a wild dragon. See photos of the area immediately above.

And immediately below, we see some photos of scenes filmed in the village of Capel Curig. In one scene, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen will meet with her newly minted dragonrider Addam of Hull as well as with her step-daughter, who by this point we imagine has tamed that wild dragon and learned to ride it. In other photos we see Hightower soldier in the woods. That scene, whatever it entails, was directed by Nina Lopec-Corrado, who is directing episodes 5 and 7 of season 3:

According to House the Dragons, Rhaena will look very different from when we last saw her; her hair is much shorter and she's wearing sheepskin over her dress. My best guess is that this is how she'll look after roughing it in the wilderness with that wild dragon. Rhaena appears to be taking over the role of a character from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood named Nettles, who's being cut from the story.

The cast and crew spent a lot of time in Wales filming bits of the Battle of the Bullet, a major navel action scene that will go down in the first episode of the new season. Below, you can see a battle scene between Velaryon soldiers and Triarchy pirates directed by Loni Peristere, who's directing the first and sixth episodes of the upcoming season. We also see some scenes from the second episode, directed by Clare Kilner. In those photos, in looks like characters are gathering themselves in the aftermath of the battle and taking stock.

In one of their more curious reports, House the Dragons says that the season 3 premiere episode will feature a scene where Alys Rivers, whom we met at Harrenhal last season, will share a scene with brand new dragon-riders Addam of Hull, Ulf White and Hugh Hammer. That probably means the three of them will have to fly to Harrenhal early in the premiere before getting involved in the Battle of the Gullet. Dragonback is definitely the preferred, fastest way to travel in Westeros.

Above we see another scene from Episode 2 where Addam's brother Alyn of Hull mans a rowboat. Most likely he's looking for survivors after the Battle of the Gullet.

And finally we have some location shots from other places in Wales where they filmed, including Penmon, Ogwen Valley, and Rhyd Ddu:

There's still stuff left to film, but clearly production is rolling along. Expect the third season of House of the Dragon to premiere on HBO and HBO Max sometime next year.

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