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‘House of the Dragon’ Cast: Meet the New Faces of ‘Game of Thrones’

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We are just three months away from the premiere of House of the Dragon, HBO’s first Game of Thrones spinoff. The show will depict a war in Westeros that will make the conflicts of the original series look tame by comparison. Behind those battles will be another cast of characters for fans to root for, rage against and reassess as the series goes on.

House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s most recent book, Fire & Blood, which is written like a history book about the first 130 years of House Targaryen’s reign over Westeros. The TV show will focus specifically on a period starting about 180 years before the events of the main series, during a Targaryen civil war known as “The Dance of the Dragons.” Martin’s book gives a bird’s eye view of this story and its main players, so we know a thing or two about the characters. Now that they have been cast, fans are excited to see the TV show flesh these characters out further.

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Fire & Blood covers about 130 years’ worth of history in Westeros, ending shortly after “The Dance of the Dragons.” It lays out all the major events but only in a historical style, not in a straightforward narrative. This means the show will only use about a third of the book’s content and will focus on a few years of the characters’ lives where the book describes them from birth to death.

Still, it is enough to introduce the main players and their roles in the conflict to come. There are plenty more characters that need to be cast or revealed, as well. House of the Dragon is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, on HBO. Fire & Blood is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats. In the meantime, here’s a look at who has been cast so far, and who they will be playing.

Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen

Paddy Considine will play King Viserys I Targaryen — after whom Daenerys’ brother is named in the main series. He is the fifth king of the Targaryen dynasty, taking over after his grandfather, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen passed away. Viserys is a dragon rider, though by the time he took the throne his dragon had passed away, and he never bonded another. He is also a widower and is described by Martin as an amiable man averse to conflict.

Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen

Emma D’Arcy will play the king’s eldest child, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Rhaenyra is the only living child from the king’s first marriage to Queen Aemma Arryn, so he publicly declared her his heir to the Iron Throne. However, King Viserys would later remarry and have more children, including boys. This will call Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne into question — something she is not happy about at all, and it is never wise to displease a dragon rider like the princess.

Olivia Cooke as Lady Alicent Hightower

Alicent Hightower is the second wife of King Viserys I Targaryen, though she is closer in age to Princess Rhaenyra. She is an ambitious woman, eager to see her own sons on the Iron Throne in spite of the king’s earlier declaration that Rhaenyra is his heir. 

Steve Toussaint as Corlys ‘The Sea Snake’ Velaryon

Steven Toussaint has been cast as one of the most interesting characters in Fire and Blood — “The Sea Snake” Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides and Master of Driftmark. House Velaryon did not feature heavily in Game of Thrones, but in the books, it is an island-dwelling great house with close ties to House Targaryen. That’s because it too traces its ancestry back to Old Valyria — though its ancestors were never dragon riders.

Corlys is an old man by the time of the dance of the dragons, but the book details his entire life, including his travels around the entire known world. HBO is reportedly developing another spin-off series tentatively titled 9 Voyages, about the Sea Snake’s famous nine voyages away from Westeros. If that’s the case, Toussaint may have more work ahead of him than any of his castmates.

Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen

Matt Smith will play the rogueish Prince Daemon Targaryen — another figure described from birth to death in Martin’s book, but who is middle-aged at the time of this story. Daemon is arrogant, ambitious and bloodthirsty, and rides the formidable dragon Caraxes. At one point before the dance of the dragon, he even declared himself “king” of a small island chain off the coast of Westeros.

In this story, Daemon may remind fans of Jaime Lannister in the original series. While he is undoubtedly a murderer and a warmonger, he seems to be pursuing a bit of redemption arc here. Hopefully, fans like the ending he receives better than the one Jaime got.

Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower

Rhys Ifans will play Ser Otto Hightower — Lady Alicent’s father and a shrewd player of the “game of thrones.” Otto served as Hand of the King to Viserys’ predecessor, King Jaehaerys, and then to Viserys himself. He then bound himself to the throne even further by persuading the aging king to marry his own daughter in the hopes of having more children to protect the line of succession. Otto will continue playing these political games throughout House of the Dragon.

Milly Alcock as Young Rhaenyra

It seems clear that House of the Dragon will make heavy use of a split timeline, as Milly Alcock will play a younger version of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in 10 episodes of the series according to IMDb.

Emily Carey as Young Alicent

Emily Cary will play a younger version of Lady Alicent Hightower as well, which has raised a lot of questions about this earlier timeline for fans. Based on the book, some wonder if this means there will be another Targaryen king represented in this series.

Rhaenyra and Daemon

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(Photo: HBO )

One of the first set photos released shows D’Arcy and Smith in costume standing on a beach, which fans speculate may be the shore of Dragonstone, or perhaps the island of House Velaryon, Driftmark. Either way, seeing the silver-blonde wigs back in action finally made the adaptation feel real for many fans out there.

The Sea Snake

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(Photo: HBO )

Fans were also ecstatic to get a first look at Toussaint in costume as Lord Corlys Velaryon, one of the most interesting characters from Fire and Blood. Many had not imagined the character as Black in the books — though it makes sense and even enhances the story as Martin wrote in, in some ways. For book readers and casual viewers alike, “The Sea Snake” is sure to become a fan-favorite character.

Alicent and Otto Hightower

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(Photo: HBO)

Finally, the last photo released so far shows Cooke and Ifans in costume as Lady Alicent and Lord Otto Hightower, again on a mysterious beach. The inclusion of Otto in these early photos implies something about the story, letting fans know that the character may loom larger here than he did in the book. However, at its hear the war is between Rhaenyra and Alicent.

Not Yet Pictured

Finally, many of the series’ main cast members have been announced but not yet photographed in costume. This mainly includes the non-Targaryen characters like Eve Best as Princes Rhaenys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole and Sonoya Mizuno as the mysterious Mysaria. We also know that Ryan Corr will play Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, David Horovitch will play Grand Maester Mellos, Matthew Needham will play Larys Strong and Gavin Spokes will play Lord Lyonel Strong.

Outside of King’s Landing, some of the great lords of other fan-favorite Westerosi houses have been cast as well. That includes Jefferson Hall as both Lord Jason Lannister and his twin brother, Tyland Lannister; Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling, Bill Paterson as Lord Lyman Beesbury and Anthony Flanagan as Ser Steffon Darklyn. Key players from further away in the Seven Kingdoms, including Cregan Stark, may not be cast until they are needed in later seasons.

House of the Dragon has wrapped up filming, and is expected to premiere on HBO on Sunday, Aug. 21 2022. Fire and Blood is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats wherever books are sold.

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