House of the Dragon Season 3: Cast, Latest News, and Everything We Know

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The wait for House of the Dragon Season 3 has been long and difficult, even with the newest Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, doing its best to tide us over. But the story of Dunk and Egg, while excellent, is a tale on a much smaller scale, and it's not going to deliver that big blockbuster action the way the much-more-expensive House of the Dragon does.

This series adapts George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, and takes place roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The civil war, named the Dance of the Dragons, was prompted by the death of Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). While House of the Dragon Season 1 followed Aegon II Targaryen's (Tom Glynn-Carney) journey to the throne despite Viserys' wish to be succeeded by his daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), Season 2 showed the aftermath of the ascension. Viewers watched as the half siblings fought for the title of the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, as their supporters inched closer to a full-blown war.  

House of the Dragon Season 3 will not be the show's last. The drama was officially renewed for Season 4 in November 2025. At a press conference held in August 2024, showrunner Ryan Condal said that he thought the series would end with Season 4; it's unclear whether that remains the plan. But there's certainly plenty of source material to work with in Fire & Blood.

Here's everything we know so far about House of the Dragon Season 3.

More on House of the Dragon:

• House of the Dragon showrunner addresses the lack of big battles in Season 2
• House of the Dragon's Tom Glynn-Carney, Phia Saban on Aegon and Helaena's marriage after Season 2
• House of the Dragon's Ewan Mitchell says Aemond dreams of drinking a piña colada at the beach with Alicent

House of the Dragon Season 3 latest news

We have a teaser trailer! And it is pretty dang epic. Check it out below.

House of the Dragon Season 3 teaser trailer

Clearly, Season 3 is going to have much bigger action than we got in Season 2, as we're treated to a bunch of shots of wild-looking dragon action amid glimpses at the other pieces of drama we'll be in for.

House of the Dragon Season 3 first look images

But that teaser isn't the only thing we've got. HBO also dropped a pile of new images from Season 3 that you can peruse below. Some are high-quality stills from the teaser, but there are also a number of other new shots as well.

House of the Dragon Season 3 First Look Photos

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When is House of the Dragon Season 3 coming out? 

As indicated by the teaser above, House of the Dragon Season 3 is premiering June 2026. No exact date has been shared yet, but it's HBO, so it'll probably be a Sunday.

What will House of the Dragon Season 3 be about?

While we don't know how much of Fire & Blood Season 3 will cover, Condal has teased some elements. At a press conference after the end of Season 2, the showrunner said the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet is going to be shown in Season 3. "It should be the biggest thing to date that we've we've pulled off, and we just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it's deserved," Condal said, as reported by TV Guide. This news shouldn't be that surprising, considering how the events of the Season 2 finale were setting up for this battle. You can catch a few glimpses at this upcoming battle in the teaser above.

How closely was author George R.R. Martin involved in writing Season 3? 

Not very, apparently. Martin recently told The Hollywood Reporter In January 2026 that his relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condol is "abysmal," and that Condol stopped taking any notes or feedback from him. "I thought Ryan and I were partners. And we were all through the first season. I would read early drafts of the scripts. I would give notes. He would change some things. It was working really well — I thought."

"Then we got into Season 2, and he basically stopped listening to me," Martin went on. "I would give notes, and nothing would happen. Sometimes he would explain why he wasn't doing it. Other times, he would tell me, 'Oh, OK, yeah, I'll think about that.' It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed. Finally, it got to a point where I was told by HBO that I should submit all my notes to them and they would give Ryan our combined notes."

For his part, Condal had previously discussed his issues working with Martin with Entertainment Weekly.

"I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did," Condal said. "But at some point, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way." 

House of the Dragon Season 3 cast              

The House of the Dragon cast is getting larger. Sons of Anarchy's Tommy Flanagan is set to play Ser Roderick Dustin in Season 3, while Fantastic Beasts' Dan Fogler is set to play Ser Torrhen Manderly.

Happy Valley's James Norton is also joining the House of the Dragon Season 3 cast as Ormund Hightower. According toVariety, the character is "Otto's (Rhys Ifans) nephew, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Gwayne's (Freddie Fox) cousin, and the Lord of Oldtown. He is presently leading the Hightower host in a march on King's Landing to support his house against Rhaenyra." The character was referenced in House of the Dragon Season 2, but he hasn't yet appeared onscreen.

Here are stars that HBO has confirmed will return for Season 3: 

• Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen
  
• Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower
• Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon
• Harry Collett as Jacaerys Velaryon
• Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen
• Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon Targaryen
• Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen
• Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen
• Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
• Matthew Needham as Larys Strong
• Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen
• Jefferson Hall as Jason and Tyland Lannister
• Tom Bennett as Ulf White
• Kieran Bew as Hugh Hammer
• Kurt Egyiawan as Grand Maester Orwyle 
• Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower
• Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull
• Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull
• Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers

How many episodes will House of the Dragon Season 3 be?

As was the case in Season 2, Season 3 will have eight episodes. 

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Where to watch House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Max.