House of the Dragon season 3 release, cast plans and what we know so far

House of the Dragon‘s second season has come to an end by filling the chessboard with pieces and carefully positioning them. While it didn’t make for the most explosive season finale in Game of Thrones history, it should make for a fantastic third season.

To give you a taste of upcoming events, here’s everything we know about them House of the Dragon season 3, which HBO has already greenlit.

Will there be a third season of House of the Dragon?

It’s definitely happening, and the announcement was made before Season 2 even premiered. Plus, creators Ryan Condal and George RR Martin have talked about limiting the show to a tight four(ish) seasons , and the show remains one of HBO’s most popular programs, so you can probably expect at least one more after Season 3.

When is House of the Dragon season 3 coming out?

While we don’t know anything official yet, it seems reasonable to expect House of the Dragon season 3 is set to release sometime in 2026. The gap between season 1 and season 2 was about two years, which would certainly indicate that we could see a similar gap between season 2 and 3. Additionally, HBO is said to have the new Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by the end of 2025, which should fill out the Westeros content allocation for that year.

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

What is House of the Dragon season 3 about?

Without going into spoilers for the book, House of the Dragon’s Season 2 ending montage certainly gave us some big clues about the future of the series. For example, we know that Daemon is now truly back on Team Rhaenyra, and we know that the pair—along with their newly anointed dragon riders—are headed for King’s Landing in hopes of quickly taking it with overwhelming force. Meanwhile, Team Green is all over the map, with Alicent betraying, Aegon hiding out with Larys, and Aemond setting fire to everything in sight. All while every non-Targaryen house in Westeros prepares for open war.

In other words, we have everything in place for a very exciting third season.

Should I read the book that House of the Dragon is based on in the meantime?

Sure, why not! On the one hand, reading the chapters of Dance of Dragons in Fire & Blood will help you understand the big picture that House of the Dragon is going to do pretty well. On the other hand, it also won’t give you too many spoilers, because the show adds an incredible amount of detail to events that the book only briefly outlines. In other words, the book is basically like watching an extended trailer for the rest of the show, which — depending on your preferences — can be a great way to kill time between seasons.

Will Winds of Winter Release Before House of the Dragon Season 3?

Almost certainly not. And even if I did, I would never jinx it by saying it out loud. For now, I’m going to assume that The winds of winter probably won’t come out until hell freezes over, or the New York Jets (or, much less likely, the Giants) win the Super Bowl, and you should too.