House of the Dragon is officially returning for a third season, and I'm really not surprised

Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) looks flustered in a green and gold dress in House of the Dragon season 2

House of the Dragon season 3 is officially on the way. (Image credit: HBO)

House of the Dragon season three is officially in development at HBO. In a press release issued today (June 13), just three days before House of the Dragon season 2 is unleashed upon the world, HBO confirmed that a third season of the hugely popular high-fantasy series was in the works.

In a statement accompanying the acclaimed Max show's renewal, HBO's head of drama series and film Francesca Orsi said: "George [R.R. Martin], [showrunner] Ryan [Condal], and the rest of our incredible executive producers, cast, and crew, have reached new heights with the phenomenal second season of House of the Dragon. We are in awe of the dragon-sized effort the entire team has put into the creation of a spectacular season two, with a scope and scale that is only rivaled by its heart. We could not be more thrilled to continue the story of House Targaryen and watch this team burn bright again for season three."

A deserved series renewal for Game of Thrones' spin-off

The Dance of the Dragons continues.#HouseOfTheDragon has been renewed for Season 3 on @StreamOnMax. pic.twitter.com/XnoaDEHfdHJune 13, 2024

House of the Dragon's season three renewal comes nine days after Condal, who is also the series' co-creator alongside Martin, told TechRadar that its sequel season was already in the works. During that interview, which took place on June 6, Condal explained that he and his fellow writers wanted "to be ready" to hit the ground running if the series' third installment was greenlit, before adding: "We haven't been picked up for production yet but, as we did last year, we like to be ready when they [HBO executives] say yes... hopefully they will."

Clearly, HBO was listening and has granted Condal's request. As much as I'd like to take credit for the show's renewal, though, it didn't exactly need my help. Indeed, the Game of Thrones prequel series has been a roaring success for HBO ever since its mid-2022 debut. Indeed, at the time, its success proved that the studio's TV adaptation of Game of Thrones was far from dead, albeit Max – formerly known as HBO Max – didn't make full use of the series' massive popularity upon season one's release. With House of the Dragon season two – one of 10 epic shows I can't wait for in mid-2024 – set to arrive in a matter of days (at the time of publication), let's hope that Warner Bros. Discovery learns from that mistake.

Before one of the best Max shows' sophomore outings is released, be sure to read our spoiler-free review of House of the Dragon season 2's first four episodes. Then, find out why Condal has defended season 2's eight-episode arc, which is two entries shorter than its predecessor.

House of the Dragon season two will premiere on Max (US) on Sunday, June 16, and Sky/Now TV (UK) and Binge/Foxtel (Australia) on Monday, June 17. New episodes will air weekly.

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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