House of the Dragon Season 3’s Opening Battle Will Be “Huge”

According to Abubakar Salim—one of the series’ stars—the opening battle of House of the Dragon Season 3 will be “huge.”

“Again, this battle was an absolute mad one to film,” Salim wrote on Twitter. “The training done for it all and the choreography was intense. It’s going to be huge.” Salim portrays Alyn of Hull, the bastard son of Lord Corlys Velaryon—Rhaenyra Targaryen’s uncle and former father-in-law.

Team Green vs. Team Black: An Epic Naval and Aerial Confrontation

Both Alyn and Corlys will take part in the upcoming clash—an epic showdown between Team Green and Team Black. In George R.R. Martin’s source material, the conflict unfolds as the Triarchy—a coalition of forces from the Free Cities fighting for the Greens—and House Velaryon engage in fierce naval combat, while their dragons battle overhead.

The Battle of the Gullet: Rescheduled but Uncompromised

The Battle of the Gullet was originally slated to conclude Season 2. However, after the season was shortened from 10 to 8 episodes, the sequence was moved to launch Season 3 instead. HBO’s Head of Programming, Francesca Orsi, affirmed its significance: “I don’t think we had the time at that point to do what it is that we’ve achieved now this season. It’s just so massive; we needed the time to build it.” She added, “It will be worth the wait.”

Setting and Context

Set approximately 200 years before the original Game of Thrones series, House of the Dragon chronicles the brutal Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke star as the rival claimants: Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower.

Release Information

• House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres on HBO on June 21.
• In the meantime, explore our guide to the best new TV shows arriving in 2026 and beyond.