House of the Dragon Season 3 premiered on HBO last night, and as we first reported on SFFGazette.com, we have a fiery trailer that looks ahead to what's next as Rhaenyra Targaryen attempts to tighten her grip on Westeros.
While the season opened with a bang—and some major shocks—during its premiere, titled "Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood," there are clearly more twists, turns, and massive battles to come in the weeks ahead.
This is House of the Dragon's penultimate season. After a surprisingly low-key second batch of episodes, this looks far more exciting (for starters, Daemon Targaryen is finally free of Harrenhal), and should be a step in the right direction for the series as this story nears its end.
Last night's Season 3 premiere delivered the epic Battle of the Gullet and ended with the death of Prince Jacaerys "Jace" Velaryon. Fans of the books knew it was coming, and so did the actor who played him.
TV Line asked Harry Collett whether he thinks Jace regretted his decision to enter the battle in his final moments. "No, I think he's been waiting, like, two seasons for this whole moment," he said. "He's finally having the opportunity to go out and win the war and prove to his mother that he is her rightful heir."
"I don't think he's going to let anybody get in his way to do that. I think death was the last thing on his mind," Collett continued. "In the scene, when he hangs onto that last piece of wood right before he gets hit, I don't even think he was thinking of death then. He was always looking for a way out. He was just full of adrenaline."
"And then, obviously, when that first arrow hits, then that's probably when it settled in. But yeah, I don't think it was in his mind. I wouldn't like to think so, no," he concluded.
Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen.
Returning cast members for season 3 include Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, Matthew Needham, Tom Bennett, Kieran Bew, Kurt Egyiawan, Freddie Fox, Clinton Liberty, Gayle Rankin, and Abubakar Salim.
New additions include Tommy Flanagan as Lord Roderick Dustin, Dan Fogler as Ser Torrhen Manderly, and James Norton as Ormund Hightower.
House of the Dragon Season 3's first episode is now streaming on HBO Max. The series continues weekly every Sunday evening.