House of the Dragon season 4 will be the show's last, showrunner confirms

The intense and successful HBO Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will end the war after four seasons, meaning the series will conclude, and hopefully, on a high note.

Season 2 ended on August 5 with "The Queen Who Ever Was." For many fans, it felt like the much-awaited end to the shortened season could've and should've delivered more in terms of, well, the actual war rather than putting off the Battle of the Gullet which would have had a brilliant and bloody start that could have flown us directly into the season 3 premiere. Instead, what we got was heavy conversations between Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), and Daemon (Matt Smith) reuniting with Rhaenyra and professing his absolute loyalty to her.

While these story elements were necessary, I wanted to see dragons breathing fire while their riders were battling for their lives—and character losses. Although I hate to see anyone go, the characters' deaths play a substantial arc in the narrative. You invest your commitment and time for the show's entirety in hopes of a satisfying payoff. For "The Queen Who Ever Was," it was actually "The War That Never Was."

But that's just me. The finale wasn't terrible, but it should've had more punch since the first two seasons were climaxing towards the war. However, the season 3 premiere would be the perfect landing to witness the war in its beginning, so maybe there's a reason for the season 2 finale's subtlety.

House of the Dragon will snuff its flame with season 4

Season 4 will be the House of the Dragon's last, as officially confirmed by showrunner Ryan Condal. Although we don't know how many episodes season 3 or 4 will include, you can bet that they'll showcase the Battle of the Gullet, which is a significant turning point for both the Fire and Blood book by George R. Martin and the show itself.

When speaking with Deadline, Condal noted that there's lots of preparation for the battle, not just for the screen but also behind the scenes. The timeliness of putting all the pieces together will be long, but it will be worth the wait for the audience. As House of the Dragon is a big budget series, everything must be in order so that the final outcome will be serviceable.

Furthermore, Condal reflected on the specifics and the design process for the Battle of the Gullet.

"As a showrunner, you are always in a position of having to balance storytelling and [the] resources you have available to tell that story. We are also starting to think about the final destination of this series and where we are going. A combination of factors led to that re-balance. There is a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armor, costumes, and visual [e]ffects needed to give the Gullet, which is arguably the second most anticipated action even to Fire and Blood, the time and the space it deserved. We are building to that event. It will happen very shortly in terms of storytelling. It will be the biggest thing to date we have pulled off. We want to have the time and space to do that at a level that will excite the fans."

Will there be new dragons in seasons 3 and 4? Condal didn't say or share plotlines about Otto's (Rhys Ifans) fate after being thrown in a dungeon. Production will being in early 2025, with a possible season 3 premiere in 2026. If the show continues its two-year block between seasons, then we won't get to see season four until 2028, four years from now.

House of the Dragon seasons 1-2 are streaming on Max. Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more coverage and follow us on X.