HBO has lifted the lid on the next major battle sequence in the Game of Thrones world, and it might be the biggest one since Season 8's Battle of Winterfell. House of the Dragon Season 3 will be the next chapter in HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's fantasy universe, featuring the all-out war between the Targaryen dynasty as Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and her brother, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), fight for the Iron Throne. House of the Dragon's new season is already promising to remedy criticisms of the past season that lamented a lack of action, and it's doing so in the biggest way possible.
One of the major conflicts in House of the Dragon Season 3 is the Battle of the Gullet, but the war sequence is shaping up to rival even the best of those in Game of Thrones. Showrunner Ryan Condal previewed the battle sequence in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, describing it as "arguably the craziest episode of television ever made."
The battle breaks out on the sea, between the Velaryon fleet, led by Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) for Rhaenyra's Blacks, and the Triarchy fleet, headed by Admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) for the Greens. Things are also taken to the air thanks to the presence of Dragonriders, Jacaerys Targaryen (Harry Collett) and Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia).
The Battle of the Gullet is so momentous that Condal likened it to Game of Thrones' own Battle of Helm's Deep from The Lord of the Rings, saying that "If we were gonna do it, we had to do it right:"
"To try to tell this story without doing the Gullet would be trying to film Lord of the Rings without doing the Battle of Helm's Deep. If we were gonna do it, we had to do it right. And that meant dragons and ships and multiple theaters of conflict."
Even D'Arcy, who wasn't on set for the Battle of the Gullet, hyped up the sequence, saying "it felt to me that the bar had been raised:"
"There was a degree of thrill at what was on the page this season because the show's gotten bigger, not just in terms of its dramatic scale, but actually in terms of its ambition. It's very exciting when that happens. It felt to me that the bar had been raised."
The sets for the Battle of the Gullet were huge, with the sequence involving both wet and dry sets, as well as giant tanks filled with water to accurately simulate naval warfare. HBO has largely kept imagery of the Battle of the Gullet out of its marketing for House of the Dragon Season 3, but Entertainment Weekly shared exclusive images in the interview that promise major carnage.
After a lack of major action at the end of House of the Dragon Season 2, things will come back bigger than ever in the premiere of Season 3, with the Battle of the Gullet confirmed to take place at the top of the season. D'Arcy promised that Season 3 "starts at 60 miles an hour:"
"The series this time around starts at 60 miles an hour. We're finally watching a war that has been building for two seasons…."
Condal added that the Battle of the Gullet sets the scene for what's to come in House of the Dragon Season 3, with there being "the reality before the Gullet and the reality after the Gullet."
House of the Dragon Season 3 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on June 21. The series stars Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewan Mitchell, and Fabien Frankel.
Could House of the Dragon Season 3 Feature Game of Thrones' Best Battle?
In the 15 years since Game of Thrones debuted, the HBO series has earned a reputation for large-scale action scenes, often in the penultimate episode of each season.
Sequences like Hardhome, the Battle of the Bastards, and the Battle of Winterfell have become revered as some of the grandest and best action on television, and Condal's claims about the Battle of the Gullet seem to put House of the Dragon's upcoming battle in the same league.
Game of Thrones featured two major naval battles in the flagship series, one being the Battle of Blackwater Bay, which saw Tyrion Lannister defend King's Landing against Stannis Baratheon's invasion by lighting up the bay with wildfire. Another major seafaring sequence was Euron Greyjoy's attack on Daenerys Targaryen's dragons in Season 8, which saw the fleet manage to take down Rhaegal with their ballistas.
It seems the Battle of the Gullet has the potential to overshadow both these sequences and any seafaring battle in the history of the Game of Thrones TV universe, given the way it's been described.
