A war of dragons is coming to Westeros...and so is fury from the fans. In a virtual press conference for House of the Dragon season 2’s lukewarm finale, showrunner Ryan Condal addressed why audiences were left feeling deflated. Part of Condal’s reasoning seems to stem from resource management (aka they ran out of time and money for another big battle), but it also has a lot to do with the way the creative team charted the road map moving forward. According to the showrunner, House of the Dragon will likely run for four seasons.

“When you’re as a showrunner, you’re always in the position of having to balance storytelling and the resources that you have available to tell that story,” Condal said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “We wanted to rebalance the story in such a way that we had three great seasons of television [after season 1] to round out and tell this story. When you’re trying to mount the show, which requires a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armor, costumes, visual effects…we are trying to give the Gullet—which is arguably the second most anticipated action event of Fire & Blood—the time and the space that it deserves.

“We are building to that event that will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling, and it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve pulled off,” Condal continued. “We just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it’s deserved. We also wanted to build some anticipation toward it. So I apologize for the wait.”

When asked if House of the Dragon will run for five seasons, Condal responded, “No, I think it’s four.” He also mentioned that season 3 will go into production early next year and will likely consist of another eight episodes. For everything else we know about House of the Dragon season 3, follow along below.

Who Will Return in House of the Dragon Season 3?

Mostly everyone! Season 2 (surprisingly) claimed only a few lives in Westeros, among them the young Prince Jaehaerys, Rhaenys Targaryen, and her dragon, Melys. Episode 7 also saw Lord Blackwood meet his end, while House Darklyn took some heavy losses. Ser Criston Cole cut off Lord Darklyn’s head in episode 4, and in episode 6 Seasmoke burned Steffon Darklyn to a crisp. Despite those casualties, the cast’s remaining power players should return for season 3.

Expect some new actors to join the series as well, including whoever will play Daeron Targaryen. Currently, House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, and Harry Collett as Jace Velaryon.

What Will Happen in Season 3?

According to King Aegon II himself, Tom Glynn-Carney, “It’s all up in the air, mate.” Earlier this summer, he told Esquire, “I’m speaking from an angle of not knowing anything about the plan, but I highly doubt they’ll do what they did with Game of Thrones and carry on after the book finishes.” As he sees it, “I think our story will run its course and everyone will move on.”

Glynn-Carney also teased that the story may deviate from writer George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel. “The books are the foundation of where we’re going narratively, but things are tweaked,” he revealed. “It’s the bible, but it’s also not. The writers of our show are brilliant and should be given credit for their creation. George R.R. Martin should be given credit for his creation. But they’re not the same thing.”

Still, House of the Dragon has stayed very close to its source material. Based on season 2’s finale, it seems that the series is headed toward the Battle of the Gullet. Corlys Velaryon is sailing out to join his blockade, the dragon seeds are assembling to fight, and Rhaenyra is declaring that the time to strike is now. Meanwhile, Team Green earned the help of the Triarchy pirates, Aegon II escaped to the East, and Aemond is headed to Harrenhal with Cole to fight Daemon.

When Will Season 3 Premiere?

HBO has yet to announce an official release date. Next up for the world of Westeros is a second prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which occurs long after the events of House of the Dragon. It will likely premiere sometime in 2025, tiding fans over while HOTD films its third season.

As Condal told Inverse last month, “Knowing where we’re going in season 3...we have a good plan and we know the road map and how to get there.” Let’s just hope that plan involves dragon fights. Many dragon fights.