House of the Dragon Season 3 is already at the midway point, and before long, a victor will ascend the Iron Throne. However, that won’t be until the fourth and final season, which HBO had previously revealed will air in 2028. Until then, the war between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Aegon Targaryen wages on. And viewership figures show some serious investment, with Variety reporting that the Season 3 premiere racked up 21.5 million watchers within the first three days of its availability, so imagine the numbers the fourth installment could bring in. As for how House of the Dragon will approach its ending in Season 4, it is anyone’s guess. However, according to showrunner Ryan Condal, the definitive ending is officially set in stone, as he recently shared a major update regarding the upcoming season scripts. In an appearance on ScriptNotes, he lifted the lid on the writing process to hosts John August and Craig Mazin, further revealing that the scripts for the final season had been completed.

Condal was asked what’s next for the House of the Dragon writers’ room now that the scripts are done, to which he broke down the process, revealing that HBO will receive all the first drafts this summer. “All of the scripts have to be done. Season 4, we have essentially written already. HBO will have all of the drafts this summer. First drafts, our first drafts that we’re choosing to share with the network. So, that’s probably like the sixth draft,” he said. “But we won’t start production until early next year, early 2027, because the schedule is such a Jenga tower. Everything is scheduled to, sort of, set and location and all that, and the schedule affects the budget.” In January, Condal confirmed that the writing process for Season 4 had begun, so it appears to have been quite the turnaround for submissions this summer. But this doesn’t mean the writers can’t make tweaks when necessary, especially since the scripts are only first drafts, as Condal emphasized, and there could be adjustments made based on HBO’s suggestions before a production schedule is finalized for early 2027.

HBO

Last Sunday’s episode, “Rhaenyra Triumphant,” showed that ruling as Queen has provided a more difficult task than Rhaenyra was expecting, and now the struggle to establish her rule continues as the odds begin to stack up against her. However, the situation has gotten even more complicated with the capture of Alicent Hightower and Viserys’ mysterious youngest son, Daeron Targaryen, who then turned out to be a fake in a ruse to allow Ormund Hightower to capture Tumbleton — all while keeping the real Daeron and his dragon, Tessarion, at a safe distance. After the High Septon’s refusal to anoint Rhaenyra Targaryen as Queen and the tense showdown between her and Corlys Velaryon regarding Allyn and Addam of Hull’s legitimacy, Rhaenyra’s next actions could be her triumph or her undoing as the rats in the Red Keep, both literal and metaphorical, build their nest around her.

House of the Dragon airs every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

House of the Dragon

4
/5

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Directors

Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel

Fabien Frankel

Ser Criston Cole