The House of the Dragon season 3 trailer hinted at some major moments to come in the next chapter of the HBO Max series, and one hint suggests a big change to George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. Fire & Blood, the novel that House of the Dragon is adapted from, is an odd bit of writing.

Fire & Blood takes the form of scholarly manuscripts from different sources, ostensibly compiled by some maester many years later. Different sources have different opinions and perceptions of the same events, and many events in the story are completed with some form of “and we can’t be sure what happened“.

What that means is, any change to the book in House of the Dragon can be effectively read as canon, because “we can’t be sure what happened“. HOTD has still gotten a lot of flak for its “changes”, but season 3 looks like it will be continuing the trend based on shots from the trailer.

The Trailer For House Of The Dragon Season 3 Shows Baela At The Battle Of The Gullet

The House of the Dragon season 3 trailer shows shots of what will be one of the biggest battles in either House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones: the Battle of the Gullet. A few dragons and dragon riders are shown flying through battling ships, including Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) and Moondancer.

Book readers might be surprised to see her featured so prominently in the trailer, because in the book, Baela and Moondancer do not participate in the Battle of the Gullet. In Fire & Blood, Baela remains on Dragonstone during the Battle of the Gullet, and neither she nor Moondancer participates.

If Rhaena And Sheepstealer Fight In The Battle, It Would Be Another Change From Fire & Blood

Baela at the Battle of the Gullet will likely not be the only change made to the battle. In Fire & Blood, Jacerys on Vermax, Ulf White on Silverwing, Addam Velaryon on Seasmoke, and Hugh Hammer on Vermithor all fight on the side of the Blacks. There’s one other dragonrider on Rhaenyra’s side: Nettles on Sheepstealer.

Nettles is not a character in House of the Dragon, at least not yet. At the end of HOTD, it appears that Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) will be taming Sheepstealer, so it’s possible that she will fight alongside her sister at the Battle of the Gullet, which could prove to be an emotionally charged moment.

Rhaena And Baela Are Much More Interesting Characters In House Of The Dragon Than In Fire & Blood

Not every change that House of the Dragon has made to Fire & Blood has been for the best, but a fair majority of them have been. One of the good changes they’ve made is to develop Baela and Rhaena. In the books, they really aren’t deeply written characters, and mostly sit in castles waiting for their husbands.

The show has roped them into the greater storyline, giving them distinct personalities, befitting the children of someone as volatile as Daemon (Matt Smith). Their inclusion in the greater House of the Dragon story provides richer insights into the relationship between the Targaryens and the Velaryons, which is an important mirror to Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn Velaryon (Abubakar Salim).

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Directors

Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel

Writers

Gabe Fonseca

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  Fabien Frankel

  Ser Criston Cole