House of the Dragon season 3 will show a different side to Rhaenyra Targaryen, following on from fan complaints of her being constantly side-lined in the action. This will mark another big change for the dragon queen, who we've already seen evolve from a rebellious teenager to a young woman broken by grief.
According to showrunner Ryan Condal, the way her character is constantly changing is "the special sauce to the show." Speaking at a recent press conference attended by GamesRadar+, he said: "I think that's also the thing that Game of Thrones established so well, is your understanding of who a character was. Jaime Lannister, when he throws Bran out the window, is different than the Jaime Lannister you see midway through the show, when he's got one hand and he's running around with Brienne."
"With our big characters that we spent a lot of time with in the show, you go through similar experiences with them. Just because who the character is in this single moment in time does not mean that is who that character is all time, and that would be boring to do," he added. "We tried to put them through experiences, apply outside pressures to them from characters and story, and then see how it results in change, and I think Rhaenyra is the prime example of that."
In season 3, Rhaenyra star Emma D'Arcy has teased that their character will be more "active" in the new episodes. Teasing her arc in the third season, Condal pointed to where we began back in season one. "We've seen her be raised by Viserys, who was a flawed king who chose her over her uncle to succeed him, and then kept her his successor, even though he had a son afterwards, which caused a whole bunch of conflict," he explained.
"Viserys made a lot of mistakes, but he did invest entirely with Rhaenyra, and I think beyond his death, she takes that really and tries to rule as she learned from Viserys in season two. She's trying to rule by consensus."
Now in the third season, "there's a point where she has to make a moral compromise for her family, for herself, for her claim. And then this idea of predestination, and all these big ideas that we play with in epic fantasy. "
House of the Dragon season 3 begins on HBO Max on June 21 in the US and June 22 on HBO Max, Sky, and NOW in the UK. For more, check out our guide to all the new TV shows coming in 2026 and beyond.
