House of the Dragon Season 3 Starts Production, Adds Marvel Star and Fantastic Beasts Star

House of the Dragon Season 3 is officially in production, HBO announced on Monday. The news came with two new casting revelations — Tommy Flanagan as Ser Roderick Dustin, and Dan Fogler as Ser Torrhen Manderly.. The fantasy prequel takes us into the thick of war as half siblings Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) vie for the Iron Throne, but as is always the case in Westeros, there are many others in the shadows playing the game of thrones. HBO did not mention a release date on Monday, but has previously stated plans to get the show back on the air sometime in 2026. In the meantime, another spinoff is expected by the end of this year.

Game of Thrones was a star-making platform in its time, but House of the Dragon has added some established stars to its cast for Season 3. Flanagan is probably best known to TV fans for playing Filip “Chibs” Telford on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, but his action credits go back as far as Braveheart in 1995, and he played a member of Yondu’s crew in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as well. Meanwhile, Fogler is best known to fantasy fans for playing Jacob Kowalski in the Fantastic Beasts series.

Fogler’s character, Torrhen, is the second son of House Manderly, meaning he is not expected to become the Lord of White Harbor. The TV show has established this as a recurring theme for many of its characters, and it makes sense that that would continue here. The Manderlys preside over the biggest port in the North, and they will be among the first to arrive in the south to join the war on the side of Rhaenyra.

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Flanagan’s character goes by the nickname “Roddy the Ruin,” and is another Northman coming down to join the fighting. He is the lord of Barrowton, and has a reputation as a fierce fighter, though most of the deeds we know about from the books will happen in this war. He takes part in some of the most exciting battle scenes we have to look forward to.

The cascade of news on Monday included a clip of D’Arcy on set with a clapperboard, announcing the start of production with a grin. The show ended on quite a cliffhanger last year, with Rhaenyra poised retake King’s Landing, and battled about to begin on several fronts. Showrunner Ryan Condal has said that Season 3 will begin with the Battle of the Gullet, which was cut from the ending of Season 2 when HBO abruptly reduced the episode count during the WGA writers strike.

That may be the biggest naval battle we’ve seen from the franchise yet, and it’s just the beginning. There is one more new dragon joining the field on the side of the Greens, and an army of “winter wolves” marching down from the north with no intention of returning home alive. Meanwhile, Prince Aemond, rider of the largest and most powerful dragon alive, Vhagar, has never seemed more unhinged and dangerous.

Before we get to all out war, fans have a much lower stakes adventure in Westeros ahead of them. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is expected to premiere sometime in 2025 on HBO and Max, but its release date has not been revealed yet. That show is an adaptation of Martin’s novella series by the same name, which is available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.