After a turbulent two-year wait, House of the Dragon has shared the first trailer for season three, and fans are shaking with excitement.
The second season of the Game of Thrones prequel, which follows the reign of House Targaryen, premiered on HBO in June 2024 and left a bad taste in people’s mouths, with some fans slamming it as ‘uneventful’ and criticising changes from the books.
On Reddit, fans called the whole season, especially the finale, ‘disappointing’, ‘weird’ and ‘anticlimactic’.
Even the creator of this bestselling universe, George R. R. Martin, controversially released a statement blasting the show’s creative direction and expressing his concerns about the third season helmed by showrunner Ryan Condal.
Despite the scepticism for the upcoming season, which will see the return of Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Daemon and Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, the new trailer seems to have convinced fans it will be worth tuning in for.
The one-minute 20-second teaser checks in with all the major players as we careen towards a fully-fledged dragonic war, despite Rhaenyra and Alicent’s continued hopes for peace, established at the end of season two.
We catch a glimpse of newly-introduced actor James Norton in battle gear as Lord Ormund Hightower, a key ally to Alicent. And the new season looks set to bring the epic naval Battle of Gullet to life – touted as one of the bloodiest in Game of Thrones lore.
No mean feat.
The teaser ends on Rhaenyra’s tear-streaked face as Daemon declares: ‘This is the moment you become Queen.’
Chills, literal chills.
‘People hate on HOTD but this show still is amazing. The dragons, the battles, all the Targaryen lore. Love it all. Cannot wait for season 3!’ Brentley Weissman wrote on X.
‘Those of you that disrespected this show, we will remind you guys,’ big daddy shared.
‘They’ve pulled me back in,’ PrinceNatchoIV shared.
House of the Dragon fans need to have faith in season 3
Metro’s TV Editor Sabrina Barr shares her thoughts on the upcoming new season.
I think all House of the Dragon fans can agree that the Game of Thrones spin-off took a turn for the worse at the end of season two. The show began with so much promise, offering a thrilling insight into the Targaryen dynasty before the grand House’s downfall.
However, the 2024 finale was blasted by viewers for being utterly ‘underwhelming’, with Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) doing very little all season beyond having hallucinations that ventured into extremely creepy territory, and a lacklustre confrontation between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).
Audiences expected the season to end with a brutal war, with the Starks and the Lannisters also joining the fight… but it never came to pass.
House of the Dragon season two was able to continue filming in the UK during the 2023 writers’ strike in the US, with the scripts having already been completed – but fans still speculated whether the strike impacted the season, as any rewrites during filming would presumably not have been allowed.
The Battle of the Gullet was moved from season two to season three, with showrunner Ryan Condal saying: ‘It should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off. We just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way that’s deserved.’
People are right to still have concerns about House of the Dragon. George RR Martin, who wrote the books on which this fantasy universe is based, recently said that the show is ‘no longer my story’, after falling out with Condal.
While I am sad that there appears to be so much discord behind the scenes, I do have faith that the third season will turn things around, especially if HBO has taken audience complaints seriously (as they should).
The trailer alone has instilled so much hope in diehard fans that season three will be a return to form, and I am among the optimists hoping to be left in a state of awe.
‘Everybody trash talks this show but it’s very good (even excellent in some points) and Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship is by far the most interesting thing in it,’ ElectricGagaX reflected.
Over on YouTube, ellyiggy wrote: ‘This series is so dark, so tragic and epic…pure gold.’
What’s more, fans are ready for the Battle of the Gullet, which several are saying will be on the same level, if not bigger, than the legendary Battle of the Bastards.
Are you excited for the return of House of the Dragon?
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Yes – it looks great!
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No – I've been burned by Thrones before
‘The Battle of the Gullet is going to be the ‘Battle of the Bastards’ of this show,’ Madawaman wrote on X.
‘The Battle of Gullet is going to better than the Battle of the Bastards. Bookmark it,’ Lipstick_logic posed.
‘Google Battle of the Gullet lol will be the best battle scene in GOT since Battle of the bastards,’ DaBayouBandit echoed.
Although the trailer has gone a long way in convincing fans to give the show another chance, author George’s hesitation over what’s to come has left some fans wary.
In September, the acclaimed writer warned in his since-deleted blog that ‘there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated [for future seasons].’
Over on Reddit, Capntbc wrote: ‘This looks really good but I just know it’s going to be bits of this mixed into some absolute horses**t.’
Hiilovethis echoed: ‘Looks good but season 2 trailer also looked good. Real question is will the writing and characters be like the books? I doubt it, cause [George] got the whiff of season three and ran away as far as possible.’
‘Surely Ryan Condal is aware of all the backlash over his handling of certain characters in S2 and will make up for it with a big course correction in S3….right?’ Balsty questioned.
In response to George’s concerns, Condal said at the time that the prolific writer didn’t understand the ‘practical issues’ at hand.
He added: ‘At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that’s my job.
‘So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday. But that’s what I have to say about it.’
Meanwhile, HBO added: ‘We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it.’
House of the Dragon will return with season three in June 2026. Season one and two are available to stream on Sky and NOW.
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