After the low-key, small-scale delights of the utterly enchanting A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO is back to the large-scale epic battles for sharp, pointy thrones with House of the Dragon Season 3. And while the new batch of episodes takes a moment to get going, when they do they’re as thrilling as anything in the Game of Thrones universe, thanks in no small part to a commanding performance by Emma D’Arcy.
…and that’s pretty much everything I can tell you about House of the Dragon Season 3, thanks to an extraordinary amount of DNR (Do Not Reveal) points about the first four episodes of the series that were provided to critics for review. Mind you, I wouldn’t be looking to spoil plot points regardless. And one could argue that a good chunk of all this is set out in the books by George R.R. Martin anyway. But there’s a fair amount of context that could be provided to better understand why D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen on the show, is such a stand-out in this season, particularly in the thrilling second episode and intricately built third episode. Suffice to say D’Arcy is stunning; and while they’ve delivered excellent work on the show in the past, they’re taken to another level entirely, at least in the first half of Season 3.
Okay, let’s see what we can say. The Game of Thrones prequel has thus far detailed yet another war for succession of the Iron Throne, with the focus on two former friends: Rhaenyra, the queen apparent, and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), who mistakes her dying husband’s final wish leading to an epic dance of dragons that divides the realms. Season 2 left off with Alicent realizing she made a mistake, and attempting to make things right during an emotionally charged, long overdue conversation with Rhaenyra. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra’s husband/uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) was going crazy in the dilapidated castle known as Harrenhal, Alicent’s son/anime villain Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) continued to be a creepazoid, and her other son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), was hideously burned in a battle and was left escaping from King’s Landing with the conniving Larys Strong (Matthew Needham).
There’s a lot more going on, of course, including burgeoning sea battles and copious discussion about who gets to ride dragons and who does not. House of the Dragon has even made time to concentrate on the wealth divide between the poor people of Westeros and the lords, a frequent point of contention with Game of Thrones that laudably this prequel show takes even more time to explore this season. While HotD will never be one to one with the outside world, seeing actual discussions of who gets wealth and why seem extremely timely, and far more relatable than everyone at the top vying for the throne while everyone below them are the dirtiest pieces of garbage you’ve ever seen in your life.
As for the new episodes, a lot has been discussed about how the Season 2 finale, to some viewers, felt weak because it skipped the epic showdown between Team Green and Team Black that fans were expecting. As reported elsewhere, at least part of that was moving said battles to the Season 3 premiere, so they had time to get it right. So it’s curious that the premiere is the weakest episode of the bunch. There are big moments, including a scene that manages to somehow out-ick a franchise that began with a brother boning his sister and pushing a kid out of a tower. But mostly the premiere frontloads some of the thus far least compelling characters while back-burnering the more interesting ones, all in service of a heavily CGI-ed sea battle and a lot of dragons screaming and flying.
Not so with Episode 2, which is one of the most thrilling episodes of TV that’s been broadcast in the franchise, the sort of thing that reminds you why House of the Dragon is one of the biggest shows on TV. And it does all this by focusing on a small scale, with enormous emotional stakes, a la AKOTSK. It’s an electrifying hour of TV that left me breathless nearly from the very beginning to the jaw-dropping end.
While the next two don’t quite hit that high, Episode 3 still manages to provide a fascinating and focused episode closer to Breaking Bad than Game of Thrones, again giving D’Arcy a superb showcase. And to wrap things up, Episode 4 feels very much like the close of Act 1 and the setup to Act 2, with new dangers, new status quo, and some new, very dire circumstances for our “heroes.” It’s easily the most Game of Thrones of the bunch, and purposefully so.
Other than D’Arcy, Matt Smith gets the most to do here as the snake-like Daemon, now back aligned with his wife and slithering around Westeros barking orders. Smith also gets different textures to play here than his descent into madness last season, though mostly it’s just fun to watch him on screen. Cooke isn’t as front-loaded in the first four episodes, though she has plenty of time to do the, “uh, yikes!” face she pulls a lot; and there’s the promise of more in the subsequent episodes.
Other notable actors include Abubakar Salim, who really steps things up considerably as Corlys Velaryon’s (Steve Toussaint) bastard son, both in terms of action and dramatics. And Gayle Rankin continues to provide a touch of dangerous weirdness with the strange, possibly prophetic Alys Rivers. Of the new cast, James Norton makes an impact as Ormund Hightower, a new antagonist for our main characters who brings a touch of HBO’s Rome to his performance. Meanwhile, Dan Fogler pops up as the boorish Torrhen Manderly, and seems curiously out of place with a face that looks like it’s seen an iPhone.
Look, what it comes down to, three seasons in, is that you know what you’re getting with House of the Dragon. It’s epic scale, high stakes, big battles, and the dragons (there are a lot of them this season) look great. If you found AKOTSK a refreshing change of pace, infusing a little heart and humor into the dour world of Westeros… This is not that. But if you’re looking for spectacle with outstanding performances and dark turns of face, you’ll want to once again grab a room in the House of the Dragon.
House Of The Dragon Season 3 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in House of the Dragon Season 3 with premiere dates.
- Sunday, June 21, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 1
- Sunday, June 28, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 2
- Sunday, July 5, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 3
- Sunday, July 12, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 4
- Sunday, July 19, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 5
- Sunday, July 26, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 6
- Sunday, August 2, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 7
- Sunday, August 9, 2026: House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
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