House of the Dragon season 3: cast and everything we know

Emma D'Arcy in House of the Dragon (Image credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO)

The dance of the dragons has only just begun, as House of the Dragon season 3 is on its way to continue the epic story of the war between Rhaenyra and the Hightowers.

HBO has pledged itself to the Game of Thrones prequel, announcing before the start of House of the Dragon season 2 that a third season had been greenlit. Throw in more critical acclaim (season 2 is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes) and the continued solid ratings for the show, and it's little surprise that HBO is flying high with its latest Game of Thrones series (and continuing to add to it with another prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms).

But as we wait for House of the Dragon season 3 to return, here is everything we know about the next season.

House of the Dragon season 3 release date

There is no official release date for House of the Dragon season 3 and no announced timetable for the show's return as of yet.

It took two years for House of the Dragon season 2 to reach TV following the end of season 1, but there were outside factors that contributed to that delay (the 2023 Hollywood strikes). With no such hindrance this time, could we get House of the Dragon season 3 sometime in 2025? It's a big show, so production takes a long time, but you'd have to imagine HBO would want to keep momentum going on the series.

It was announced on March 31 that production was officially underway on House of the Dragon season 3, so that's the first step in getting it back on TV.

In the meantime, if you need to catch up on House of the Dragon between now and the series' return, US viewers can stream it exclusively on Max, while those in the UK can watch the show on-demand via Sky TV, NOW TV and Sky Go.

House of the Dragon season 3 cast

House of the Dragon season 3 has a big cast, but just about all of the main cast that you have come to know over the last two seasons are back:

Here is a look at the confirmed returns cast returning:

Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra
Matt Smith as Daemon
Olivia Cooke as Alicent
Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole
Steve Toussaint as Corlys
Ewan Mitchaell as Aemond
Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
Matthew Needham as Larys Strong
Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon
Harry Collet as Jace
Bethany Antonia as Baela
Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena
Phia Saba as Helaena
Jefferson Hall as Tyland Lannister
Tom Bennett as Ulf
Kieran Bew as Hugh
Abubakar Salim as Alyn
Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne
Clinton Liberty as Addam
Kurt Egyiawan as Grand Maester Orwyle
Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers

HBO has also confirmed new additions to the cast, which include Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) as Ser Roderick Dustin, Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Ser Torrhen Manderly and James Norton (Happy Valley) as Ormund Hightower.

House of the Dragon season 3 plot

No official plot details about House of the Dragon season 3 have been announced yet, but we can infer a lot of things that are going to taking place in the third season based on where things left off with season 2.

Most critically, war is about to break out as armies for the Blacks (Rhaenyra's forces that include her seven dragons, Daemon's Riverlands army, Corlys' fleet and the North) and the Green's (Aemond and Vhagar, Criston Cole and the Hightower forces, which will include Prince Daeron, the Lannister army and ships from Essos). Rhaenyra is possibly going to add another dragon as Rhaena sought to fulfill her long desire for one as she chased down the wild dragon in the Vale.

Other big plot points that were left open-ended for next season include Aegon and Larys fleeing King's Landing to avoid being killed by Aemond. Also, Otto Hightower is imprisoned, though we don't know where.

If you can't wait to find out more about what's coming next in the story, you can read George R.R. Martin's text that the series is based on — Fire & Blood — though the show has taken some liberties with the story, so it may not line up perfectly.