‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 is giving Rhaenyra Targaryen a big book change — and yes, it involves a sword

Emma D’Arcy, who plays the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen in ‘House of the Dragon’ wants a weapon in the upcoming season
PUBLISHED NOV 27, 2025
 Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra in a still from 'House of the Dragon' (Cover Image Source: Instagram | @hbo)
Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra in a still from 'House of the Dragon' (Cover Image Source: Instagram | @hbo)

We have an exciting update for all the ‘House of the Dragon’ fans out there. In recent months, several theories about ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 have been circulating on the internet.  And now, we finally have a confirmation. According to a report by ScreenRant, there will be a change from Rhaenyra Targaryen's book character. For the unversed, Rhaenyra’s character is portrayed by Emma D'Arcy in the fan-favourite show. It appears that HBO is willing to take creative liberties to impress the fans of the fantasy series. In George Martin’s 2018 book, Rhaenyra’s character was referred to as ‘Rhaenyra the Cruel.’ However, Rhaenyra wasn’t the worst Targaryen ruler.

 In the second season of the show, Rhaenyra shared her desire to fight, a change that ‘House of the Dragons’ Season 3 seems to have run with. It appears that Rhaenyra will most likely have a sword in the upcoming season of the drama show. While appearing on an episode of the ‘Happy Sad Confused Podcast,’ D’Arcy expressed her Targaryen-esque wish for the forthcoming ‘House of the Dragons’ Season 3. In the episode, D’Arcy stated that she wants her character to have a weapon in the show. 

As per Gazettely, D’Arcy shared, “The petition I’ve put in is I want a weapon. Like it’s getting ridiculous. I don’t even mind if it’s like a little dagger, a short sword. I don’t really care. All the men in the show don’t have to worry about where they put their hands because they’re constantly holding the pommel of their swords. That obviously sounds like an innuendo, and you can do with that what you will, but that is true. And all the rest of us are going, 'Where do we put our f**king hands?'”

At the time of writing, the ‘House of the Dragon’ creators haven’t made any official comment on D’Arcy’s proposal. However, the new promotional poster for ‘House of the Dragon’ shows Rhaenyra not just with a sword but also brandishing it. Soon after, many fans took to Reddit to share their thoughts on Rhaenyra getting a weapon. A Redditor wrote, “I'm so happy she'll finally have something to do with her hands! This will literally save the show!” Followed by a second user who penned, “Not gonna lie, creator could win me over if he gives the actress a sword to use in a scene only to have her character immediately disarmed because she is a noble who has never properly trained in combat.” Another user remarked, “Rhaenyra looking like she's about to drop the hottest mixtape in Westeros :fire:.” 

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