Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon returned for a second season this summer, and the Targaryen war that was promised at the end of the first season has very much engulfed us. The finale is tonight (August 4), but fans are already looking to the future.
With House Of The Dragon based on George R.R. Martin’s fictional history book Fire & Blood, there’s still a stack of Targaryen history to cover through the Dance Of The Dragons and beyond.
Has House Of The Dragon season three been confirmed?
Good news!
Before the first episode of House Of The Dragon season two even aired, HBO confirmed it would be renewing the fantasy series for a third season. With the massive critical success of the first season, a renewal never exactly seemed unlikely but with HBO announcing it this soon, it looks like the company has a lot of faith in the franchise.
“George [R.R. Martin], [showrunner] Ryan [Condal], and the rest of our incredible executive producers, cast, and crew have reached new heights with the phenomenal second season of House of the Dragon,” said executive vice president of HBO Programming Francesca Orsi in a press release. “We are in awe of the dragon-sized effort the entire team has put into the creation of a spectacular season two, with a scope and scale that is only rivalled by its heart. We could not be more thrilled to continue the story of House Targaryen and watch this team burn bright again for season three.”
Do we know a release date for season three?
Don’t hold your breath
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CREDIT: HBO/Sky
We don’t. While a majority of Game Of Thrones seasons came out regularly every summer, House Of The Dragon took nearly two years between seasons one and two. The production was largely unaffected by the writer’s strike as well, so fans can probably expect a similar production schedule for season three of House Of The Dragon. If our calendars are correct, that means a summer 2026 release date for season three looks likely.
Who is returning for season three?
There’s a good chance not everyone survives the season
With only a handful of episodes of season two released so far, creators are keeping the cast list for season three under wraps. The Game Of Thrones universe has never been the safest place for heroes, villains and those just simply trying to get by, and with a civil war on the verge of kicking off, there’s a good chance not everyone makes it out of season two alive.
Currently, House Of The Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon and Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole but (at the time of writing) who knows how many will survive the imminent war. Eve Best definitely won’t be back after Rhaenys Targaryen’s fiery demise in episode four.
However, there is a chance we could see more of Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey’s Alicent Hightower despite the time jump that took place in the first season. In an interview following the first season, showrunner Ryan Condal said House Of The Dragon could get “a little bit more fancy” with its narrative structure. “There are things that we haven’t fully sorted out. I’m not closing the door on anything,” he added.
What can we expect in House Of The Dragon season three?
War is coming
House Of The Dragon is based on a couple of chapters of George R.R. Martin’s fictional history book Fire & Blood, known as Dance Of The Dragons. The TV series has already veered away and reworked the source material, and Tom Glynn-Carney (who plays King Aegon II in the show) has teased that further deviations from the story might occur. “The books are the foundation of where we’re going narratively, but things are tweaked,” he revealed. “It’s the bible, but it’s also not. The writers of our show are brilliant and should be given credit for their creation. George R. R. Martin should be given credit for his creation. But they’re not the same thing,” he told Esquire recently.
As for what season three will bring? “It’s all up in the air, mate,” Glynn-Carney continued. “I’m speaking from an angle of not knowing anything about the plan, but I highly doubt they’ll do what they did with Game of Thrones and carry on after the book finishes. I think our story will run its course and everyone will move on.”
Condal confirmed writing for season three was well underway before the renewal, in order to maintain their schedule of one new season every other year. “You certainly don’t want to rush to get to an end, but you also don’t want to overstay your welcome,” he said “You want to find this very satisfying place to go out that ties up enough loose ends and leaves others intentionally open because, as we know, this history marches on for another 150 years to Daenerys.”
It comes after Condal previously teased that House Of The Dragon could end up spanning several hundred years. “There’s 170 years of history in front of us, so you have to figure out, at what point do you lower the curtain on this particular story? There is 300 years of Targaryen history to explore, and there are many stories within there that are really fascinating,” he told Collider.
“There’s the story of the conquest, the story before the conquest, the Targaryens leaving Old Valyria. You have a tale like this, where the Targaryens have dragons and are in power. And then, there are also stories where the Targaryens no longer have dragons, but are still in power. What changes there, and how is that different? It’s a very rich tapestry,” he added.
Are there any other Game Of Thrones spin-off shows in development?
Prequels for prequels
Since the curtain closed on Game Of Thrones in 2019, the rumour mill has been rife with speculation about spin-offs, sequels and prequels. The planned Jon Snow spin-off has been scrapped alongside Bloodmoon, a series exploring the lead up to the Long Night war with the white walkers.
While House Of The Dragon was the first spin-off to actually make it to air, a second is due to premiere in “early” 2025.
The live-action A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is based on George R.R. Martin’s The Tales Of Dunk And Egg series of books. Peter Claffey is set to star as Ser Duncan The Tall (a.k.a. “Dunk), a penniless squire who ends up a knight, alongside Dexter Sol Ansell as “Egg”. The series is being co-written by former House Of The Dragon writer Ira Parker, with current showrunner Ryan Condal describing the books as “a lone wolf and cub story told in this vast canvas”, in an interview with EW. “Dunk And Egg is about the small folk who suffer at the hands of the game of thrones as it’s played by the nobles.”
Production is rumoured to have already started, with The Hedge Knight set after the events of House of the Dragon and just 90 years before Game of Thrones.
A prequel to House Of The Dragon, following the story of Aegon The Conqueror and his conquest of Westereos, has been in discussion with HBO since 2023 but earlier this year screenwriter Mattson Tomlin was attached to the project. “That one is very early days where I’m currently writing the script, currently doing a lot of great back and forth with George [R.R. Martin],” he confirmed.
There has also been talk of a prequel focused on House Of The Dragon’s Corlys Velaryon. At first the show was set to be live-action, but there have also been whisperings about an animated show detailing the adventures of Steve Toussaint’s Sea Snake. Either way, he’s said he’d love to be involved with Nine Voyages.
Another prequel 10,000 Ships is also in development. The show would be set 1000 years before the events of Game Of Thrones and would follow the events of warrior princess Nymeria. It has been through several different writers, with the most up to date info suggesting that Pulitzer Prize–winner Eboni Booth is writing the pilot.
“She’s an amazingly talented young playwright, and a joy to work with; when not writing and producing her prize-winning plays on and off-Broadway, she has been kept busy by me and HBO, working on a new pilot for Ten Thousand Ships, a Game of Thrones spinoff about Nymeria and the Rhoynar,” Martin wrote on his blog. “We’re all very excited about this one… though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for 10,000 ships, 300 dragons, and those giant turtles.”