HBOAnd just like that, the curtain has closed on another season of House of the Dragon. Season 3 was bookended by two bloody battles that reset the board entirely for Team Black and Team Green. The latter scored a major victory with the resurrection of King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), and that throws plenty into jeopardy for Team Black’s Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), who was in the midst of her own crash-out long before Aegon got his second wind. With the Battle of Tumbleton, House of the Dragon does what it does best: delivering the kind of conflict that neither side really wins. Though both teams are still licking their wounds when Season 3 comes to an end, the conversation is already turning from who survived the latest skirmish to the battles to come. A more decisive victory is in sight for either Aegon or Rhaenyra, but it’ll take some time to finally get there. The fourth season of HBO’s fantasy prequel will bring an end to the Dance of Dragons, and the Season 3 finale has effectively started the countdown. Here’s everything we know about Season 4 so far.Is House of the Dragon Season 4 happening?The Dance of Dragons got its second wind at the end of Season 3. | HBOYes, it is. House of the Dragon was renewed for a fourth season in 2025, just a few months before Season 3 hit HBO. Showrunner Ryan Condal also confirmed that the scripts for the new season were basically done in July 2026. “Season 4, we have essentially written already,” he told the Scriptnotes podcast. “HBO will have all of the drafts this summer... but we won’t start production until early next year, early 2027, because the schedule is such a Jenga tower.”Does House of the Dragon Season 4 have a release date?There’s no concrete release date for House of the Dragon Season 4 just yet, but the show has been following a pretty tight schedule these past few years, and it’s safe to assume its final season will stick close to the program. Each season has premiered within two years of the last: since Season 3 hit HBO in 2026, Season 4 should follow suit with a premiere in the summer of 2028. What will the plot of House of the Dragon Season 4 be?Team Green is back in the fight. | HBODespite a lot of personal setbacks — like the demise of Rhaenyra’s oldest son and heir, Jace (Harry Collett) — Season 3 gave a pretty decisive advantage to Team Black. With Aegon a shell of his former self, far from King’s Landing, and his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) on a very twisted soul-searching journey at Harrenhall, Rhaenyra was essentially free to wrest the throne back and declare herself queen. That victory was short-lived, however, as she quickly realized that she’d inherited a kingdom in shambles. With no resources to feed her citizens, constant doubts about her legitimacy, and a new head of the hydra rising in the form of Ormund Hightower (James Norton), Rhaenyra finally snapped under the pressure. At the end of Season 3, she storms into the Starry Sept, orders the murder of its High Septon — who’d previously refused to anoint her as ruler — and tells the people about the prophecy she’s spent her whole life believing. “I am the Prince Who Was Promised,” she says, affirming her resolution to rule and her dogged delusion in one fell swoop.House of the Dragon doesn’t tell us much about what the people think of this proclamation, but Aegon’s return will only undermine Rhaenyra’s claim. In Episode 7, Aegon reunited with his dragon Sunfyre, who’d been lying dormant after the Battle of Rook’s Rest in Season 2. His resurrection is already spreading through the realms, which guarantees another confrontation between Aegon and Rhaenyra. Plus, there’s still the matter of Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), the youngest son of the last king, Viserys (Paddy Considine), and the most recent challenger for the Iron Throne. House of the Dragon Season 4 will likely bring these three to a head, but only one can come out on top.Who’s in the cast of House of the Dragon Season 4?Our ensemble is getting smaller going into House of the Dragon’s endgame. | HBOSeason 3 took a few players off the board, but House of the Dragon Season 4 will be just as busy as ever. Here’s everyone we can expect to see in the new season:Team Black: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Corlys “The Sea Snake” Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell), Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia), Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), Joffrey Velaryon (Oscar Eskinazi), Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew).Team Green: Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), Aegon Targaryen II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell), Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox), Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth).The Free Agents: Lady Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), Ulf the White (Tom Bennett), Larys Strong (Matthew Needham).Will House of the Dragon Season 4 be the final season?It’s long been speculated that House of the Dragon will end in Season 4. Ryan Condal has teased as much for years now — and now that the season is finally in sight, the showrunner has confirmed that Season 4 will bring the Dance of Dragons to an end. In an interview with Business Insider, Condal also revealed that Season 4 will have the same runtime as Season 3, giving the writers just eight episodes to wrap this story up.“I think for us, it’s really, how do we take these eight hours that we have left — eight [episodes] that we have left — and tell a compelling, satisfying story that ties up as many of the threads as we’re able to, but also leaves with sort of wistful open-endedness at the end of it to make you yearn for more, in a good way?” Condal mused. “That’s the thing we’re aiming for.”It might be a few years still before we see that in action, but Condal teases an ending that’s “totally inevitable, but completely surprising” — and that sounds like it’ll be worth the wait.