'House of the Dragon' Showrunner Ryan Condal Confirms He Is Done With "Dragons, Targaryens, and Thrones" [Exclusive]

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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the House of the Dragon Season 3 finale and some light spoilers from Fire & Blood.

Last week, House of the Dragon closed out its third season with a bang as Rhaenyra's (Emma D'Arcy) forces arrived at Tumbleton to oust Ormund Hightower (James Norton) and take back control of the town. The finale featured a major battle that saw Daemon (Matt Smith) fighting alongside Roderick Dustin (Tommy Flanagan) and his Winter Wolves as well as the Tully troops led by Oscar Tully (Archie Banes). Back in King's Landing, Rhaenyra, having found out Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is actually still alive (along with his dragon Sunfyre), rushes to the Grand Sept to force the High Septon to legitimize her reign. Unfortunately, when the old man denies her, Alyn (Abubakar Salim) is ordered to kill him before the queen gives an impassioned speech to the concerned people of the city about her right to rule.

With so much happening, Season 3 is setting the stage for the final chapter of House of the Dragon and the end of the Targaryen civil war. Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is finally confronted by Aegon at Harrenhal, Ormund is killed by both Roderick and Ulf (Tom Bennett) on dragonback, and the season ends on the most tragic turn as Helaena (Phia Saban) kills herself after finishing her prophetic tapestry. We spoke with showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal to break down some of those major moments in the finale and get a hint of where the story will go next based on clues from George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood and the story so far.

Ryan Condal Explains Where Vhagar Has Been All Season

"We felt that we could only go so far with the 'Aemond the Destroyer' storyline..."

Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) confronting Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) in Harrenhal in House of the Dragon Season 3

COLLIDER: One of the things that really surprised me in the Season 3 finale was the revelation about Alys' past as the Lady of Harrenhal. Will we be seeing more about her connection to Harrenhal and specifically the Green Men who we just saw a glimpse of early in the season?

RYAN CONDAL: There is definitely more Alys and witchiness to come. We love what Gayle [Rankin] has done with the role.

I've had this theory all season that Alys has done something to keep Vhagar away so that she can keep Aemond at Harrenhal. Can you confirm if my theory has legs? I know we saw Caraxes doing just fine at Harrenhal when Daemon was there, so I find it odd that we haven't seen any sign of her since the early season.

CONDAL: Though the hows and whys of this story are yet to be revealed, we felt that we could only go so far with the "Aemond the Destroyer" storyline. Vhagar is great fun, but she is so all-powerful that we often have to ask ourselves, "Why couldn't Vhagar just kill everyone/thing?" The idea that everyone is hunting Vhagar as a way of finding Aemond, one (wounded) man, without realizing they were separated was great fun. I doubt Alys has much power over the world of dragon magic, but I would guess that Vhagar has been around for a long time and hasn't survived without being a canny old lady. Now that Rhaenyra and Daemon are weakened and Aegon has returned with Sunfyre, let's see what happens next.

Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell

Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.

🐺Stark

🦁Lannister

🐉Targaryen

🦌Baratheon

🌹Tyrell

FIND YOUR HOUSE →

Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.

ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?

AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.

AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.

AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.

NEXT QUESTION →

What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.

AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword.

NEXT QUESTION →

You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.

AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.

AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.

NEXT QUESTION →

The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.

AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign.

REVEAL MY HOUSE →

The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…

Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you.

🐺 House Stark

Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.

You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult.
The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.

🦁 House Lannister

You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.

You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.

🐉 House Targaryen

You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.

You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.

🦌 House Baratheon

You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.

Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it.
You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.

🌹 House Tyrell

You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.

Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

We know Harrenhal is a strategic location, but we also know that Aegon takes up camp in Dragonstone from Fire & Blood by this point. Will we see Aegon remain with Aemond in the Riverlands, or will we see him change locations to Dragonstone to be closer to King's Landing?

CONDAL: We don't know when Aegon took up at Dragonstone, only that he did... eventually. Part of the fun of him disappearing from the book narrative (with Larys) is that he could have gotten up to quite a bit of mischief while Rhaenyra and Daemon were busy and all the eyes of history were looking elsewhere.

Ormund Is Passing the Villain Crown Back to Aegon

"His story perfectly sat within our Season 3 plan."

Ormund was a brilliant villain this season; I think we all really took a liking to James Norton's performance and how smarmy he could be. Ormund's death is one of the wildest scenes in the season; what made you guys go in that direction tonally? Was there ever a point where you thought about extending Ormund's time on the show simply because he's such a great villain?

CONDAL: James Norton is great, and I wish he could be in everything I make from here to the end of time. But the plan was always for a one-season arc. His story perfectly sat within our Season 3 plan, and his work (though he paid for it with his life) has irrevocably damaged Rhaenyra and Daemon's cause while simultaneously strengthening the Greens. Better that Ormund leave us all wanting more and pass the torch to his nephews, Aegon and Aemond.

We got such a good scene with Ulf betraying both the Greens and the Blacks; I thought that was a very clever twist on how to utilize that storyline in a realistic way. However, in Fire & Blood, Ulf is not the only betrayer, so I was wondering if you can hint at how we might see Hugh turn on the Blacks now that his wife is dead after Tumbleton?

CONDAL: Did Hugh not betray Rhaenyra by disobeying her orders, abandoning his post in King's Landing, showing up to a war to which he was not invited, parking his dragon, and refusing aid when everything went to hell? Ulf's betrayal was felt more acutely due to the direct outcome, but do not discount Hugh's own treason. Outwardly, Hugh might seem like a much more honorable man than Ulf, but this man has only ever acted out of self-interest. He never had a stake in this war or Rhaenyra's claim outside what suited his ambitions. And now one of the two things he cared about (his wife) is a casualty of this war.

Helaena's Visions Are Still Open To Interpretation

"How does one make sense of this imagery in such a way as to actually be beneficial?"

Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen in Season 3 of 'House of the Dragon.'

You guys have really incorporated dreaming hugely in the show with Helaena. I thought one of the dreams that was the most compelling was finally seeing her ride Dreamfyre in the vision. I know what that scene is hinting toward from Fire & Blood, but is there a reason why you guys chose to frame the scene like that with Helaena riding her dragon to tease what will happen in the Dragonpit? As opposed to having her merely seeing it from a third-person point of view?

CONDAL: Targaryen Dreamers have loomed so large over this particular period in the Targaryen dynasty that we felt that we earned the opportunity to have a look inside what that actually means for the Dreamer. And though I don't want to get into specific interpretations of what Helaena is seeing, I think the open-ended nature of it gets at what makes these dreams more a curse than a gift. None of it is black and white, and all of it is very open to interpretation. What is it like to live as someone who sees the future regularly but without any kind of defined clarity? It must be maddening. How does one make sense of this imagery in such a way as to actually be beneficial?

Rhaenyra Has Chosen To Fully Align Herself With Daemon's Philosophy

"Can I rule without becoming a tyrant?"

Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) in the 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 finale.

One thing I've really enjoyed this season is seeing Daemon and Rhaenyra kind of coming into a symbiosis; it reminded me a lot of their relationship early on in Season 1. What was your goal when writing that relationship? They are very much on the same page now rather than working against each other. Even the scene where Rhaena's identity as Sheepstealer's rider is revealed was not as explosive between the two of them as I expected.

CONDAL: That was definitely the plan. They start the season with the wounds of Season 2 still fresh, but also with the relative clarity of their new position: Daemon has experienced a clear vision of Rhaenyra being "the one," and Rhaenyra herself is now unquestionably the Queen of Dragons. The big question going into Season 3 for Rhaenyra was: can I rule effectively and still honor why Viserys chose me over Daemon? Essentially: Can I rule without becoming a tyrant?

Rhaenyra is pulled between Mysaria's philosophy, Alicent's warnings, and Daemon's desire to double down on what it means to be a Targaryen: to rule with strength and fire and blood. Rhaenyra tried for as long as she could to keep these things in balance, but she realized (especially when her rival Aegon was "resurrected") that if she was ever going to win and rule uncontested, she would have to align herself fully with Daemon.

How much of that symbiosis with Daemon is contributing to Rhaenyra becoming more extreme and turning her into the "Rhaenyra the Cruel" figure that she is known as in history, especially after she ordered Alyn to kill the High Septon?

CONDAL: Rhaenyra has tried to be a conciliator and a consensus-builder, making compromise after compromise ever since her claim was stolen from beneath her. She has realized a sad truth about humanity: it understands black and white, light and dark better than it does nuance.

Have we seen the last of Rhaena and Sheepstealer? It seems a pity to keep her locked up in King's Landing.

CONDAL: Rhaena's story isn't over. Nor are the reverberations of her actions.

Is There More Westeros in Ryan Condal's Future?

With Season 4 being the final season of the show, I am very curious: if you could take on another era of the Targaryen Dynasty, which one would you personally adapt, or which one would you be most excited to see adapted beyond Aegon's Conquest and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

CONDAL: I have really said all I have to or need to say about dragons and Targaryens and thrones, but I think the most interesting story left on the table is the story of the end of the Targaryen dynasty. But the one told from the point of view of the Targaryens themselves.

Do you mean the end of the Targaryen dynasty after Aerys II (The Mad King)? Or one beyond that?

CONDAL: Yes, I meant the accepted formal end of the dynasty with the death of Aerys II (The Mad King).