Critics Left Stunned In First Reactions To House Of The Dragon Season 3

"House of the Dragon," the first major spin-off and prequel to "Game of Thrones," is finally back for its third season ... and critics are absolutely loving the fantasy series' first four episodes.

Those four episodes, which were provided to critics ahead of the show's June 21 premiere, throw audiences right back into the action as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) fights to reclaim her rightful place on the Iron Throne of Westeros by rallying the Black factions against her childhood confidante turned enemy and stepmother Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and her Green army. After Season 2 set up a few major battles in his final episodes (by straight-up cutting plotlines), Season 3 gets right to some of the biggest clashes in the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, and critics are thrilled.

Writing for Mama's Geeky, critic Tessa Smith declared, "This season wastes absolutely no time getting into the dark and gritty. The Battle of the Gullet is a massive, devastating spectacle, and it just gets wilder from there." Melody McCune agreed for MovieWeb. "Strap in, folks. It's all sword-clashing, fire-breathing action from here on out, with a smattering of political machinations for good measure," she wrote in her review. Looper's own Matthew Jackson added to the chorus of rave reviews, writing, "The series is better than ever, and the new season will have you hanging on every single moment." 

Nick Schager, writing for The Daily Beast, also thinks the season is a huge success, calling it "an assured and often-thrilling mixture of colossal battles and court intrigue." Megan Lachinski agreed for Next Best Picture: "[Season 3] takes most of the complaints of the first two seasons and addresses them head-on, making for a thrilling new season and the series' best so far."

Over at Variety, Alison Herman praised the interpersonal conflict on the third season of "House of the Dragon," which picks up after Rhaenyra and Alicent met in secret during the Season 2 finale to try and come to an agreement ... albeit one that's supposed to result in the death of Alicent's eldest son and heir Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). "Whether they provide surprise and distraction or anchoring ballast, it's the people who make "House of the Dragon" worth enduring the predetermined devastation," Herman wrote in her review. Kaiya Shunyata seemed to agree with this assessment at RogerEbert.com. "As the stakes grow, the show has managed to salvage its beating heart, allowing its characters to become fully realized, complicated versions of the husks who took up the screen in [Season 2]," she mused. At Polygon, Samantha Nelson declared, "It's well worth watching to enjoy the same mix of cutthroat intrigue, spectacular action, and gutting drama that made the world fall in love with Westeros."

Still, some critics had reservations, like Daniel Fienberg at The Hollywood Reporter. "Anyway, this all boils down to me really liking the third episode, liking portions of the fourth and fearing that no matter how much I like the change of direction that occurs in much of those two episodes, House of the Dragon has too much on its plate," he wrote. Nick Hilton at The Independent UK expressed a similar sentiment, saying, "In truth, 'House of the Dragon' is perfectly watchable fare."

Season 3 of "House of the Dragon" premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, June 21 at 9 p.m. EST — and here's the only recap you need before you return to Westeros.