It’s all-out war in the third season of Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon
Let there finally be dragons! It has been nearly two years since viewers were left wondering about the brewing Targaryen civil war, but when we pick up House of the Dragon season three, our protagonists are exactly where we left them. Team Black, headed up by Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), is about to face off with Team Green and King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Rhaenyra’s younger half-brother. Team Green is down to one dragon, whereas Rhaenyra has amassed several dragons and an army of Targaryen bastards to ride them. Knowing that a war will only end poorly for all of them, King Aegon’s mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), approached Rhaenyra in the dead of night, proposing peace. She asked that her children be spared but appeared to agree with Rhaenyra that Aegon must be sacrificed for the cause.
What awaits now is the long-anticipated Battle of the Gullet — which, according to George R.R. Martin’s source material, is the greatest naval battle ever waged. “The fun of this one was, ‘Let’s hit everybody.’ The bell rings in the boxing ring and they come out,” says showrunner Ryan Condal. “I think it’s going to put people back on their heels in a good way, because it comes out so heavy and unexpectedly. It also sets the tone for where we’re going with the season. It changes the storytelling rhythm of House of the Dragon.”
Having faced criticism from viewers about the pacing of the series, Condal says he and the writers try not to pay too much attention to public opinion. “We had a plan from the outset,” says Condal. “This is a four-season show, and you have to wait two years in between each chapter, but ultimately this is one story we’re telling. To get upset about something midway is to react in the middle of a play where you don’t like the turn that the story took. Well, wait, because there are another two acts coming.”
As Condal previously mentioned, the outcome of the battle is about to change the course of the show. “The mood changes in season three as things get darker and bleaker,” he says. “I think there are fits and starts through season one and season two where you think, well maybe there’s a chance that they will lay down arms and find a different way to sort things out.” But as more loss is experienced on both sides, an amicable solution seems entirely out of reach. “There is this tit-for-tat brinksmanship that comes into play where people forget what the first slight was,” says Condal. “So, there is a darker mood that you’ll continue to see unfold over not just this season but going into the final season as well.”
Yet, as the season begins, the dealings of that midnight rendezvous between Alicent and Rhaenyra still linger, offering hope. “Alicent is trying to enact the bargain that she made with Rhaenyra at the end of season two. She is diligently trying to make sure that comes to pass, but of course it’s House of the Dragon. Nothing can run smoothly,” says Cooke. “Yet Alicent is thinking about survival, getting herself and Helaena (Phia Saban) out, and running for her life.” Meanwhile, Rhaenyra is finally starting to feel like the leader she always wished she could be. “A character who we’ve seen in a reactionary position for the majority of two seasons is finally positioned to act,” says D’Arcy. “Some of the restraints have been lifted and I think there is a great clarity to her thinking. She’s leaning increasingly on her faith and believes hers is a holy war. She believes she has divine mandate to rule, and with that, comes a reduction in doubt.”
For D’Arcy, the character increased confidence is a welcome one. “There’s something nice [about] watching a character who was once doubt-plagued — I think she has been deeply self-questioning and self-critical — for some of that to fall away, for better or for worse,” says D’Arcy. “There’s probably a positive lesson in there about being able to trust oneself and stand by one’s instincts.” Equally confident about what is to come is Rhaenyra’s uncle-husband Daemon (Matt Smith). “Daemon has been trying to raise an army for some time and finally that addiction is about to be sated,” says Smith. “He’s about to enter the element of his life where he feels most alive, which is war, violence and chaos, really. Generally, he’s an agent of chaos.”
As war seems inevitable, the cast reflects on those big battle scenes that House of the Dragon is known for. “It’s a real blast,” says Fabien Frankel, who plays Ser Criston Cole. “The hard scenes to do are the ones where you’re sat in the council and you’re spinning a ball for three days. But the war scenes are amazing. Especially when you get all the background artists in and you’ve got hundreds of people screaming at the top of their lungs. You feel the real scale of it in a way that you can’t at [the soundstage in] Leavesden.” But even the dragon flights inside the studio seem fairly impressive. “It’s lots of screens that surround you, when you’re on the buck,” says Glynn-Carney. “There is this hydraulic crane with wind machines attached to it and when you are riding a dragon, you get perspective on where you’re going and what you’re seeing. As long as you don’t completely lose it, which we all do from time to time, you just get shouted at, take instruction and do your job.”
For whoever makes it out alive, there appears to be plenty more virtual bull riding in the future of the show. “We’re actively writing,” says Condal of the fourth and final season, set to premiere in 2028. “We’re as far ahead as we’ve ever been, at this point, in crafting a new season, while we’re still [doing post-production on] the old one. That just goes to show that the machine is up and running. But it’s also the fourth season – the end, the final act — of a story we’ve been waiting to tell for many years, and we’re all really excited about doing it.” As for a happy ending? “I don’t know, define happy?” says Condal. “Do we really expect happy endings in Westeros? I think this show goes to extremely dark places, places we’ve been, and places we’re yet to go. One of the big challenges of adapting Fire & Blood is not making this a relentless, bleak death march, just because of the nature of the history. Though, I will say, that with very dark stories, even the slimmest glimmers of light seem that much brighter.”
House of the Dragon airs Sundays on HBO Canada