House of the Dragon Season 3 Has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's What Critics Are Saying Before June 21.
The early reviews are in from the Italian festival premiere. It is the best-reviewed season yet. And episode one opens with a battle the showrunner called the craziest episode of television ever made.
House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres June 21, 2026 at 9pm ET on HBO and Max. Critics who watched it at the Taormina Film Festival in Italy have already published their reviews. The season has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, the best score the prequel has received, and some critics are calling it the best Westeros television since Game of Thrones at its peak.
That is a significant claim. Here is what they actually said, what opens the season, and what to know before you sit down on Sunday night.
AT A GLANCE • Premiere: June 21, 2026, 9pm ET on HBO and Max • Episodes: 8, weekly — finale August 9, 2026 • Episode 1 runtime: 72 minutes • Episode 1 written by Ryan Condal, directed by Loni Peristere • Rotten Tomatoes: 97% — best for the series • Episode 1 opens with: the Battle of the Gullet |
What critics are saying
GamesRadar called it "the most explosive start to a Westeros-set season to date." Gold Derby said it is "just as good as Game of Thrones at its heights." Those are the enthusiastic takes.
The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg had a more layered view. He called episodes 3 and 4 his "favorite House of the Dragon episodes to date" and praised Emma D'Arcy as having "never been better." His note of caution: the show is still "simultaneously too much and too little."
Variety's Alison Herman called the season opener "spectacular" but noted it delivers no triumphant satisfaction. She praised the "multifaceted rapport" between D'Arcy's Rhaenyra and Olivia Cooke's Alicent, and highlighted new character Ormund Hightower as someone who "leaps off the page."
The consensus across reviews: Season 3 is faster, more action-forward, and emotionally sharper than what came before. Emma D'Arcy is the reason critics keep coming back to it.
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What happens in episode 1 — the Battle of the Gullet explained
Note: The following is based on the source material, George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood. The show may differ in execution.
The Battle of the Gullet is the largest naval engagement of the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war at the heart of the series. It is fought in the waters outside Dragonstone between the Black fleet, loyal to Queen Rhaenyra, and a Triarchy fleet fighting for King Aegon II.
On paper, the Blacks win. In practice, the cost is catastrophic.
Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, known as Jace, dies at the battle. He is Rhaenyra's son and one of the most prominent characters the show has followed since season one. He and his dragon Vermax are brought down by Triarchy crossbow fire. Prince Viserys Targaryen, another of Rhaenyra's sons, is captured and taken prisoner.
The battle shifts the entire course of the war. Rhaenyra wins the Gullet and loses her heir. The people of Dragonstone begin to turn against her. What looks like a victory in the history books feels like devastation to everyone who lived through it.
Ryan Condal has called it "arguably the craziest episode of television ever made." The production involved 123 stunt performers set on fire in a single take, 15,000 crowd members, 3,500 props, and 25 tons of propane.
Where Season 2 left off
Season 2 ended in a complicated place. Alicent Hightower made a secret journey to Dragonstone to offer Rhaenyra a deal: come to King's Landing while Aemond is away, take the throne without a fight, and Alicent will sacrifice Aegon's life to make it possible.
Separately, King Aegon and Larys Strong fled King's Landing together on a livestock cart. Season 3 picks up in the immediate aftermath of both threads.
New faces this season
Three new cast members join the story:
• James Norton as Lord Ormund Hightower
• Tommy Flanagan as Ser Roderick Dustin
• Dan Fogler as Ser Torrhen Manderly
Abigail Thorn also returns as Admiral Sharako Lohar, the character she debuted in the Season 2 finale.
WHAT WRITERS CAN TAKE FROM THIS • A pyrrhic victory is more devastating than a defeat. The Battle of the Gullet gives Rhaenyra the naval win and costs her everything that made it worth fighting for. If you are writing a war in your story, consider what a victory can take rather than only what a loss can give. • Slow burns earn their battles. Two seasons of political maneuvering make episode one land harder because readers know every character at risk. The spectacle works because the investment came first. • The best character moments come in the aftermath. Critics consistently praise the quieter HOTD episodes over the battle episodes. Action sequences show what characters do. The scenes after battles show who they are. • Faction stories need one face the audience follows. Emma D'Arcy is the reason Season 3 reviews read the way they do. In a show with 26 starring cast members, every critic circles back to Rhaenyra. Pick your anchor and build everything else around them. |
If you are writing a multi-faction story where every character is connected by blood, alliance, or betrayal, tracking those relationships across a civil war is the kind of structural work that shapes every scene you write. WriteO's Character Relationship Visualizer was built for exactly that.
Sources
The Hollywood Reporter — House of the Dragon Season 3 Review (June 2026)
Variety — House of the Dragon Cranks Up the Action in a Less Sleepy Season 3 (June 2026)
GamesRadar — House of the Dragon season 3 review: The most explosive start to a Westeros-set season to date
Gold Derby — Critics say House of the Dragon Season 3 is just as good as Game of Thrones at its heights (2026)
Screen Rant — House of the Dragon Season 3 Premiere Runtime Officially Revealed
Rotten Tomatoes — House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 1 (97% score, verified June 2026)