First House of the Dragon Season 3 Trailer Reveals Major New Characters, House Stark & What Fans Have Been Waiting For

The first footage for House of the Dragon Season 3 has been officially released, thanks to a new HBO trailer. The focus of the Game of Thrones franchise has been split of late, with attention shifting to the new spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which will air in January 2026. However, House of the Dragon will follow later that same year, with it expected to arrive in the summer, and it has some heavy lifting to do. Season 2 was more divisive, with author George R.R. Martin criticizing House of the Dragon‘s adaptation choices, and the third season will look to win back everybody.

The first teaser for House of the Dragon Season 3 arrives as part of a bigger HBO Max trailer, which showcases no fewer than 17 new and returning TV shows and docuseries coming in 2026. The Game of Thrones spinoff is still one of the jewels in its crown, because it pulls in such a huge viewership, and so it takes a prominent place, beginning the trailer and then featuring later on as well.

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The footage is notable for several reasons, including showing multiple battles. One common critique fans had of Season 2 was the lack of action, but it appears as though the Targaryen civil war will really be delivering on the “war” element this time around. That includes the Battle of the Gullet, a massive sea conflict involving the Velaryons, which was originally intended for the second season and then pushed back. The trailer also reveals the first look at James Norton as Lord Ormund Hightower, the nephew of Otto and head of House Hightower.

What The House Of The Dragon Season 3 Teaser Trailer Reveals

The dialogue from the new footage centers around the difficult decisions facing Rhaenyra Targaryen. We hear Corlys Velaryon say, “You must decide what you want,” which is likely aimed at his queen, while later, Alicent says that: “Rhaenyra will do what she has to do. And what she has to do will be dire.” This seemingly speaks to her impending conquest of King’s Landing, which was set up at the end of House of the Dragon Season 2. With Aemond unlikely to go quietly, thwarting the hopes Alicent had of a more peaceful transfer of power, then Rhaenyra will have to take what’s hers with fire and blood, which she is seemingly mulling over as she plans out a war strategy.

Aside from Rhaenyra, there’s certainly plenty of focus on Aemond and Alicent, as we see her walking into the throne room to meet him, and later the pair hugging. They have a complicated mother-son dynamic, to put it mildly, but with Aegon out of the picture for now and Aemond ruling in his stead, it makes sense for them to have some more scenes together and for that relationship to be tested in new ways.

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There are also plenty of shots of epic battles, including what appears to be footage from the Battle of the Gullet, which is the biggest sea battle in Westeros history – and should be quite the event when it happens in the show. Ormund, meanwhile, is seen leading the Hightower host, which should also mean Alicent’s other son, Daeron, isn’t far behind.

Elsewhere, the banners of House Stark can be seen, with the Winter Wolves – an army of 2,000 grizzled Northerners, led by Lord Roderick Dustin (Tommy Flanagan), aka Roddy the Ruin – ready for battle themselves. They’re involved in several major conflicts, and should be pretty busy in Season 3, giving the North greater representation in the show.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is expected to release in summer 2026 on HBO and HBO Max. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will debut on January 18th, 2026.

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