House of the Dragon wrapped with its strongest Game of Thrones connection yet back in August, with plenty of questions still unanswered. More of the Targaryen family tree's civil war is on the way, and details are few and far between about what comes next. As it turns out, even the cast doesn't know much about House of the Dragon Season 3, but Emma D'Arcy's idea for a change for Rhaenyra is fun to think about while the wait continues and the 2024 TV schedule winds down.
The Stars Don't Know Jack
Otto Hightower is one character whose future is not only unclear, but House of the Dragon never explained what happened to him in the second half of Season 2 after he was fired by Aegon and left King's Landing. Whether or not the hit fantasy show will shed much light on what went down off screen remains to be seen, and actor Rhys Ifans couldn't explain either. Speaking with Inverse, Ifans shared:
I'm an actor, so we'll be the last people to know what's going on in our characters. I haven't been told by anyone with any kind of conviction or authority where exactly he is at that point. All we know is that he’s still alive somewhere in that world, and that's as much as I know too. I know as much as the fans.
Considering that the Greens went even further off the rails after Aegon fired Otto and replaced him with Criston Cole, it should be interesting to see how Otto's loyalties have shifted... or not shifted, since it's hard to imagine him being so alienated from his family that he'd flip to support the Blacks. Alas, fans will have to wait even longer than Ifans to find out.
And even the actors who were in more of Season 2 than Rhys Ifans was don't have answers. During a New York Comic Con panel (via Variety), Tom Glynn-Carney – a.k.a. Aegon – said that he knew "Not a jot, not a letter" about any Season 3 scripts, while Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) weighed in:
I’ve not heard hide nor hair. I don’t know about you guys. I’ve not heard a thing.
Considering that Daemon's hallucinatory arc was one of the biggest departures from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood source material in Season 2, even reading the book might not give him much insight on the next steps for his character! Fabien Frankel, who plays Ser Criston Cole, dropped more of a tease than his co-stars could:
I’ve heard some things that I couldn’t possibly share here.
House of the Dragon's Criston Cole was another character notably different from his book counterpart, far beyond how Season 1 changed one of Cole's kills from the source material. His arc wasn't what George R.R. Martin's called out in his grievances against Season 2, though, and Frankel didn't spoil the "things" he's heard about Season 3.
Emma D'Arcy's Fun Idea
Whether or not Emma D'Arcy knows any more than their co-stars about what the House of the Dragon team has planned for Season 3, the star has a fun idea that would be a shift from what Rhaenyra did for the war effort in Season 2. Speaking with The Guardian, D'Arcy shared what they enjoy about the show and what they'd like to see change:
A privilege of my job is to work with extraordinary actors, and that’s where I derive a huge amount of energy and pleasure. I enjoy the familial confines of House of the Dragon, but all that said I’m desperate to beef up my Spotlight skill section and I do want a sword next season. I want a reason to see the stunt team. Both things are true.
While Rhaenyra hasn't stayed entirely out of the fray with the war effort, her contributions have been on dragonback. As she was reminded, the Blacks' claim rested entirely on her, so it would have been unwise for her to risk her life by flying off into battle on a regular basis. Could Season 3 find a reason for Rhaenyra to take up a sword?
Unfortunately, while Emma D'Arcy is bound to find out sooner than most, fans will remains in the dark for the foreseeable future. It's unlikely that House of the Dragon could return any sooner than 2026. For now, you can always revisit the first two seasons streaming with a Max subscription, as well as all eight seasons of Game of Thrones.
