The new trailer for House of the Dragon Season 3 reveals Emma D’Arcy’s Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen wresting control of King’s Landing from the Greens and claiming the Iron Throne – but it will come at a heavy price, as evidenced by her weeping at one point in this trailer.
Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin’s history book that inspired House of the Dragon, contains several notable battles between the Blacks and the Greens that take place in the years 129 AC and 130 AC, the period of the Dance of the Dragons that Season 3 is expected to cover. (The fourth and final season of House of the Dragon will likely end in the year 131 AC.)
As dragons are the ultimate weapons wielded by the Blacks and the Greens alike, expect lots of casualties on both sides in Season 3 (as well as in Season 4, due out in 2028). So while we won’t spoil who we know from Fire & Blood will die in these battles, it’s definitely worth remembering which characters are dragon riders…
House of the Dragon: Season 3 Official Images
The new trailer shows snippets from at least two major battles expected to be depicted this season – The Battle of the Gullet and The Butcher’s Ball – both of which will see major characters perish.
The Battle of the Gullet is a hugely consequential conflict where Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka the Sea Snake, leads his fleet in a blockade of Blackwater Bay, culminating in a vicious battle that will see the death of two dragons and one major dragonrider. That battle will be preceded by some political trickery waged by Aegon II’s hand, Ser Otto Hightower.
Butcher’s Ball will likely happen later in the season. That should prove a highly anticipated moment for fans as one particular character will finally meet their ignoble end. The trailer also shows the aftermath of an undetermined battle, this one featuring Rhaenyra’s northmen allies the Winter Wolves. We also see shots of Ser Criston Cole of the Greens, as well as of Queen Dowager Alicent apparently in Rhaenyra’s custody.
The trailer also presents James Norton’s Lord Ormund Hightower, the head of House Hightower forces, fighting for the Greens. Ormund is Alicent’s cousin and Otto’s nephew.
House of the Dragon Season 3 Cast and Characters: Who’s New and Who’s Returning?
We also see shots of Ewan Mitchell’s Prince Aemond Targaryen at Harrenhal, Tom Glynn-Carney’s King Aegon II swearing vengeance against his aforementioned brother Aemond, as well as shots of a dragon in the Vale. This is likely paying off Rhaena Targaryen’s discovery in Season 2 of the dragon known as Sheepstealer.
There’s speculation that House of the Dragon will have Rhaena assume the function played by the dragonseed Nettles in Fire & Ice. As IGN writer Rosie Knight previously wrote covering Season 2:
“We got another tease in Episode 7 that Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) will be the one to tame Sheepstealer, as she’s been following the burnt corpses of sheep across the Vale where we know that rumblings of a wild dragon have been happening for a while. That seems to confirm that (Nettles) as we know her likely won’t appear on the show, but seeing as this series is rewriting history, it could be that those who ‘wrote it’ in Fire & Blood didn’t know Rhaena was Nettles. Perhaps it will be an alter ego she takes on, seeing as claiming the dragon without Rhaenyra’s consent could seem like she’s disobeying her. That would take away some of the impact of the Nettles character, as her appeal was that she didn’t have royal blood, but they could always explore that through Hugh or Ulf if it’s revealed one of them doesn’t have dragon blood but was still able to bond with the massive creatures.”
There’s also a curious shot of Queen Helaena Targaryen appearing to give birth, which raises a lot of questions since her other child, Prince Maelor, infamously isn’t in the show despite his character playing a major role in the book’s tragic “Blood & Cheese” sequence (an omission that royally ticked off George R.R. Martin).
Are you excited for Season 3 of House of the Dragon? Let us know in the comments.
