Rhaenyra Returns to King’s Landing in ‘House of the Dragon’ Trailer (VIDEO)

Fire & Blood

300 Years Before A Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin

$18.98

Buy Now

The royals of Westeros are at war in the House of the Dragon Season 3 trailer, but Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) seems to score a major win by returning to King’s Landing, the home of the Iron Throne, with Daemon (Matt Smith) and their dragons. HBO released the official trailer on Friday, May 29, ahead of the June premiere of the Game of Thrones spinoff. The Battle of the Gullet from George R.R. Martin‘s Fire & Blood comes to the screen this season as well. The devastating naval battle from the Targaryen civil war is teased in the new trailer (above).

House of the Dragon has been renewed for Season 4 at HBO, and the network revealed the first photos from House of the Dragon Season 3 in November 2025. HBO announced the drama’s renewal and premiere year during the HBO and HBO Max 2026 content slate presentation, hosted by Casey Bloys, on Thursday, November 20, in New York City. The network also announced the renewal of its newest Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, during this presentation.

Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, presented HBO and HBO Max’s 2026 content slate to a group of press. The presentation included teaser trailers for much of its upcoming programming, including House of the Dragon Season 3, which, as previously reported, will feature the Battle of the Gullet from Martin’s Fire & Blood, the spinoff’s source material. The battle was brewing at the end of the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale. It’s teased in the trailer above.

House of the Dragon Season 3 was filmed from March to October 2025. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming season of the Game of Thrones spinoff.

When does House of the Dragon Season 3 premiere?

House of the Dragon Season 3 key art (HBO)

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres on Sunday, June 21, at 9/8c on HBO.

Is there a House of the Dragon Season 3 trailer?

The teaser trailer came out on April 27, and the May 29 official trailer shows Rhaenyra and Daemon’s dragons, plus two more, flying over King’s Landing. Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) invited Rhaenyra to King’s Landing to reclaim the throne by killing Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) in the Season 2 finale. She said that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) would be gone from the capital city, leaving it ripe for the picking.

The trailer shows Rhaenyra and Daemon walking through the halls of the Red Keep uncontested, signaling that their return to the castle might end up successful. But that’s far from the end of the story.

Related

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Renewed — Here’s When Season 2 Premieres

How many episodes are in House of the Dragon Season 3?

The eight-episode season will air new episodes weekly, leading up to the season finale on August 9.

Who is in the House of the Dragon Season 3 cast?

The Gold‘s Tom Cullen plays Ser Luthor Largent, Andor‘s Joplin Sibtain is Ser “Bold” Jon Roxton, and The Sandman‘s Barry Sloane plays Ser Adrian Redfort, HBO announced on April 23. All of these characters are characters from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.

Also joining Season 3 are Tommy Flanagan as Ser Roderick Dustin and Dan Fogler as Ser Torrhen Manderly. Their castings were announced on March 31, along with the start of production announcement and video. The first new cast member for Season 3 was James Norton, whose casting was announced on January 31, 2025. He joins the series as the book character Ormund Hightower. He’s previously been seen in Grantchester and Happy Valley and will star alongside Game of Thrones alum Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the upcoming series King and Conqueror.

Flanagan is known for playing Filip “Chibs” Telford in Sons of Anarchy and the Mayans M.C. spinoff, Cicero in Gladiator, and more. Fogler starred in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, A Complete Unknown, The Offer, and more.

Ormund is Otto’s nephew, Alicent and Gwayne’s 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.

Returning stars are D’Arcy, Smith, Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, Matthew Needham, Tom Bennett, Kieran Bew, Kurt Egyiawan, Freddie Fox, Clinton Liberty, Gayle Rankin, and Abubakar Salim. Unless she appears in flashback form or in some kind of vision as seen at Harrenhal this season, Eve Best will not be back as Rhaenys. Her character met her tragic fate in the Battle of Rook’s Rest, depicted in Season 2 Episode 4.

Based on Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. War has broken out between the two sides of the family after Alicent Hightower (Cooke) usurped the Iron Throne in favor of her son, Aegon (Glynn-Carney), at the end of Season 1, robbing Rhaenyra (D’Arcy) of her inheritance. This was followed by the death of Rhaenyra’s young son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) at the hand of Aemond’s (Mitchell) dragon Vhagar. Season 2 revealed what happened after those tragic events, ending with the setup for one of the most intense battles from Fire & Blood, the Battle of the Gullet, in Season 3.

Season 3 directors are Clare Kilner, Nina Lopez-Corrado, Andrij Parekh, and Loni Peristere. Production credits are: Co-Creator/showrunner/executive producer Ryan Condal; Co-Creator/Executive Producer, George R.R. Martin; Executive Producers Sara Hess, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Vince Gerardis, David Hancock, Philippa Goslett.

Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 (Ollie Upton/HBO

What will happen in House of the Dragon Season 3?

The Season 2 finale ended with an intense buildup to a major battle from the book, the Battle of the Gullet. Condal said to expect that battle to take place early in Season 3, in addition to explaining why it wasn’t in Season 2. He said it will be “the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off.”

Related

'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Trial of Seven Explained by Cast (VIDEO)

“We were trying to give the Gullet, which is arguably the most anticipated — well, I would say maybe the second-most-anticipated action event of ‘Fire & Blood,’ trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves,” Condal told journalists in an August 2024 press conference, per Variety. “Obviously, as anybody that’s seen the finale, we’re building to that event. That event will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling of House of the Dragon. Based on what we know now, it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off, and we just wanted to have the time, the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans and in the way it’s deserved.”

The Battle of the Gullet is a fight between Rhaenyra’s forces and Aegon’s, now led by Aemond. As teased in the Season 2 finale, the battle is fought by air and sea. Dragons and their dragonriders will face off as Corlys (Toussaint) leads his fleet in battle against the greens’ naval arsenal. The finale showed Tyland Lannister (Hall) successfully recruiting an armada from Essos to Aegon’s side, led by the Triarchy Admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn). They’ll face off in the Gullet, the stretch of water between Driftmark and Dragonstone. Blackwater Bay opens into the Gullet.

Condal says they “wanted to build” more “anticipation toward” this epic battle in Season 2, per Hollywood Reporter. “I know everybody wants this to come out every summer,” he said. “It’s just that the show is so complex that we’re really making multiple feature films every season. So I apologize for the wait, but I will just say if Rook’s Rest and the Red Sowing are any indication, we’re gonna pull off a hell of a win with the Battle of Gullet in the future.”

House of the Dragon, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, June 21, 9/8c, HBO