Fantasy enthusiasts have something special to look forward to next week. The duration of House of the Dragon's extended season three opener has been confirmed, with the episode set to achieve a world record.
Record-Breaking Premiere
HBO's sprawling Game of Thrones prequel returns on Sunday, 21st June and will showcase the Battle of the Gullet, one of the most significant events in Targaryen history drawn from George RR Martin's source material. Season three is poised to be the most dramatic chapter of the series yet, featuring the forces of Westeros clashing in a savage maritime confrontation, regarded as the continent's most devastating naval engagement in history.
"These sequences, I will confidently say, are unlike anything that's ever been done on television before," showrunner Ryan Condal assured, according to TV Insider. "The amount of construction that [the crew] did for just the one episode is kind of crazy and frankly irresponsible."
Condal compared the ambitious seafaring sequence to The Lord of the Rings' battle at Helm's Deep, though this arguably represented an even more substantial endeavour due to the deployment of two genuine interactive vessel sets constructed within the same tank and functioning on independent gimbals.
Unprecedented Scale
"No one has practically produced anything like this before," Condal continued, before hinting: "This is by far our most action-packed season. The Gullet is huge... but it is only the beginning." Beyond the two ship sets, the sequence demanded a wet tank, a dry tank, an underwater tank, four boat sets, and three million litres of water, alongside weeks of stunt choreography preparation for the actors.
Moreover, House of the Dragon's latest teaser reel revealed the third series featured a stunt crowd of 15,000 performers, 3,500 props, and 25 tonnes of propane throughout production, per The Hollywood Reporter. The series has also broken records, with one action sequence featuring 23 stunt performers being set ablaze, the highest number for any film or television production. The previous record was held by the original Game of Thrones series, which ignited 20 stunt performers during its seventh series.
Extended Runtime
With House of the Dragon's third series promising to be the most ambitious and exhilarating instalment of the popular prequel to date, viewers should brace themselves for a substantial opening episode to launch the summer series. HBO's official television schedule lists the premiere as running from 9pm to 10:12pm Eastern Time, giving the episode a total runtime of 72 minutes. It stands as one of the lengthiest episodes of the programme thus far, exceeded only by the second season's 73-minute finale.
The episode will broadcast live on HBO on Sunday, 21st June in the United States before becoming available on HBO Max the following Monday morning. The third series will comprise eight episodes that will air every Sunday until the finale on 9th August. House of the Dragon season 3 premieres Monday, 22nd June on HBO Max, Sky and NOW.
