House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal confirms how many seasons the series will last for, and reveals a window for when season 3 will start filming. The popular Game of Thrones prequel series ended its second season last night on August 4 with an episode that mostly sets the stage for an epic battle to come early in the third season. House of the Dragon season 3 has already been confirmed, as it was officially renewed by HBO four days before season 2 premiered on June 6.

Now, the day after the season 2 finale, Condal confirmed that House of the Dragon will run for four seasons and that season 3 will start filming in early 2025, per Deadline. During his comments, the showrunner discussed why season 2 didn’t end with the Battle of the Gullet and provided an early tease for season 3’s story, which he has already started writing. Check out Condal’s comments below:

As a showrunner you are always in a position of having to balance storytelling and resources you have available to tell that story. We are also starting to think about, what is the final destination of this series and where are we going? A combination of factors led to that re-balance. There is a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armor, costumes and visual affects needed to give the Gullet, which is arguably the second most anticipated action even to Fire and Blood, the time and the space it deserved. We are building to that event. It will happen very shortly in terms of storytelling. It will be the biggest thing to date we have pulled off. We want to have the time and space to do that at a level that will excite the fans.

There are so many great events that we are already writing in season 3 as it is. This war really comes to a big head at this point in the storytelling. I mean, if you look at season 2, it’s largely a metaphor for a nuclear conflict … There’s gonna be giant moments of spectacle but real moments of surprise and character nuance that we’re very much looking forward to. Some of my favorite moments of in the book, as a reader, I’m excited to adapt as a dramatist.

I invite anybody to take the off season to purchase and read Fire and Blood so you can be armed lots of information going into season 3. It’s a very tricky position in my seat, Sara Hess and I are custodians of this world. We have to render an exciting TV adaptation of this story, knowing there will be a percentage of the gigantic TV audience that has not read the book. We are constantly trying to serve both worlds.

Why House Of The Dragon’s 4-Season Plan Is Perfect

GRRM Says 4 Seasons Is Ideal

Condal’s confirmation that House of the Dragon will run for four seasons isn’t particularly unexpected. George R.R. Martin, who co-created the series and serves as an executive producer, disclosed in December 2023 that he, along with co-creator Condal and his writing team, were already working on both the third and fourth seasons of House of the Dragon. Martin previously mentioned that four seasons would be ideal to fully adapt the Dance of the Dragons, the devastating Targaryen war of succession detailed in his 2018 book, Fire & Blood, on which House of the Dragon is based.

Considering Martin’s past comments, HBO had already seemingly committed to his four-season plan. While season 3 was officially renewed, House of the Dragon season 4 has not yet been announced by HBO, despite Martin and Condal’s comments. Furthermore, it’s unclear how many episodes season 3 will have. Season 2’s eight-episode count was reduced from season 1’s 10 as part of a long-term strategy for the show, and some viewers were disappointed at how this resulted in the Battle of the Gullet being bumped to season 3.

However, as Condal explains, the show doesn’t have an unlimited budget to stage multiple big battles in one season, with season 2 already adapting the Battle at Rook’s Rest. With filming starting in early 2025, season3 probably won’t premiere until the summer of 2026. However, the good news is that another Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will premiere in 2025 to help with the long wait between seasons of House of the Dragon.