An official marketing image for House of the Dragon Season 3 confirmed that the upcoming installment will make major changes to George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, thus further distancing itself from the source material. After fairly faithfully following the events of Fire & Blood in House of the Dragon Season 1, Season 2 found itself straying from the path quite a bit, especially as the season progressed.
Making changes to what Martin established in his A Song of Ice and Fire book series made many longtime fans upset, but showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed that Season 3 would cover four major events from Fire & Blood, so fans thought the series as a whole might be able to get back on track. However, that may not be the case now that official images and shots from Season 3 are beginning to surface.
An official marketing image for House of the Dragon Season 3 depicted Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra Targaryen wielding a sword while wearing her black attire from Season 2. This might not seem like a big deal to some, but Rhaenyra raising a sword and getting into what appears to be a fighting stance indicates that she will be involved in some sort of action sequence or battle.
There will be a large number of battles and fighting scenes in Season 3, as confirmed by Daemon Targaryen actor Matt Smith, but that is not the issue at hand. In Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra never took part in any battles or even any hand-to-hand combat scenes. Instead, if there was an issue she needed to deal with personally, she always used her dragon, Syrax.
That may not seem too important, but it fundamentally changes Rhaenyra's character. She was able to show power through getting things done without even drawing a sword, which is something only a handful of people in Westeros have the luxury of saying.
While that promotional image confirmed that the show will be making some changes to Rhaenyra in Season 3, another photo revealed that even more changes will be coming, this time with Daemon Targaryen.
HBO officially released a shot from the upcoming season, and in it, Daemon Targaryen is featured leading a group of soldiers (notably sporting the Tully sigil) with his sword drawn and blood all over his face.
Daemon has been in plenty of battles in House of the Dragon. Fans will remember the iconic shot of him from Season 1, where he was dragging half of the Crabfeeder's body out of a cave in the Stepstones, proving that he had no pause if he needed to take a life. Many will also remember Daemon's sword slicing through Vaemond Velaryon's head, leaving only his lower jaw and tongue visible.
Daemon is no stranger to violence, so some may wonder why it is a big deal that he will be leading an army in Season 3. Well, after taking Harrenhal from Simon Strong, which occurred in Season 2, Daemon did not participate in any major battles, at least not traditionally.
He did get involved with one extremely important event, but it most definitely is not the one depicted in the photo that HBO released.
So, that indicates that House of the Dragon will be making even more changes to Martin's source material. Of the two promotional images that have been released for the new season, both have broken canon by including events or depictions that were not in Fire & Blood.
Why Does Rhaenyra Have a Sword in House of the Dragon Season 3?
House of the Dragon viewers haven't really gotten a chance to see Rhaenyra in action yet. She has been on Syrax a couple of times, and has gotten into scuffles, but the promotional image suggests that she will actually be fighting in House of the Dragon Season 3.
Without going into any major spoilers, one incredibly important event from Fire & Blood will be taking place at some point in Season 3. In the book, one of the story's main characters gets beheaded, but, notably, it is never revealed who actually carried out that order.
It is possible that Rhaenyra herself could be the one to accomplish that task, and, if she does, it could actually support her character arc and be a change that helps the overall narrative. In truth, that also wouldn't necessarily be "breaking canon," since the source material never specifies who carries out the execution anyway. Most likely, it was an executioner, but since that is never directly implied or stated, it is technically possible that it was Rhaenyra.
If Rhaenyra is the one to execute that character in Season 3, that could explain why she has a sword in the promotional material. Most likely, even if she doesn't carry out the sentence, she will still be wielding a sword during that same event anyway, even if she doesn't use it.
In fact, official art pieces of Rhaenyra depict her wearing a sword when she is involved in certain events. She never actually uses the sword since she has Syrax, but her carrying a sword is not out of character.
As for the Daemon shot, that one is a lot more difficult to defend. Daemon really only gets involved in two more major fights at this point in the timeline, and neither of those are what is being depicted in the shot of Daemon that HBO shared.
In that case, it does seem like House of the Dragon is changing Daemon's story to have him be more active in the Dance of the Dragons. That is not necessarily surprising, though, as, from this point in the timeline in the source material, Daemon spends most of his time in Maidenpool with Nettles.
House of the Dragon can't really faithfully adapt that, because Nettles doesn't even exist in the show's timeline. So, some changes have to be made for Daemon to stay relevant and have screentime. If he went to Maidenpool alone in the show, he would literally just be sitting there by himself doing nothing.
