Why ‘Game of Thrones’ Fans Are Suspicious of This ‘House of the Dragon’ Wig

Game of Thrones fans are suspicious of Matt Smith’s wig in the first photos from House of the Dragon — and they have good reason to be. HBO published the first picture from the prequel series this week, showing Smith as the long-haired Prince Daemon Targaryen. Many were looking closely at his silver-blonde wig, expecting it to be familiar.

Game of Thrones had a number of infamous flubs in its last two seasons, so you can be forgiven if you forgot the grand controversy of the wig in the Season 7 finale. That episode showed a flashback to Lyanna Stark’s secret marriage to Rhaegar Targaryen, meaning that Jon Snow was not a bastard but the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms. However, at the time many fans were fixated on the fact that Rhaegar’s hair looked exactly like the wig worn by Viserys Targaryen in Season 1. To this day, many fans believe it was exactly the same wig reused all those years later.

Now, fans are taking the microscope to Smith’s wig in his first appearance as Daemon, as we knew they would. Some are truly arguing that producers straightened that old wig with an iron to get one more use out of it, while others seem to be joking when they say so. Either way, the wig has taken up more time and energy on social media than it has any right to.

Fans have come up with elegant reasons for the striking similarity as well. One Redditor wrote: “At first I kind of cringed upon seeing that Rhaegar had Viserys’s hairstyle from S1, but it actually makes sense that Viserys would try to style himself after the Last Dragon. I think he was trying to copy his big brother by emulating his hairstyle. An insignificant detail, but it makes sense.”

House of the Dragon is filming now in the U.K., and is expected to premiere sometime in 2022 on HBO. It is based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood, which is available on Amazon here in print, digital and audiobook formats. Scroll down for a look at the revival of the Targaryen wig debate.

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Canonical

Some argued that the similar wigs are simply accurate to the books and that Targaryens should all favor a similar hairstyle. They thought these wigs only stood out because of their color, while brown-haired characters with the same look went unremarked upon. By the same token, other fans wanted to see the Targaryen aesthetic diversified a bit.

Frugal

Many people joked that it was worth re-using the wig to save some money. According to a report by Marie Claire, these kinds of convincing TV wigs can cost around $7,000 each.

Geralt

House Targaryen will be competing with a new platinum blonde fantasy hero this time around: Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) on The Witcher. Fans could not help but remind them.

Writing

Fans are more concerned with the quality of the writing on House of the Dragon than the costuming after the controversial final season of Game of Thrones. The prequel comes from different writers and showrunners than the original altogether.

Supply and Demand

Some saw the rise of fantasy adaptations in TV as a boon for wig stylists everywhere. They hoped this niche market would provide some new looks.

Daenerys

Aesthetically speaking, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is the only template many fans have to go on for this noble house. They wanted to see characters on this prequel represent the same number of elaborate hairstyles that the khaleesi did over the course of Game of Thrones.

Bleach

Finally, many fans called for Smith to commit fully to the role and bleach his real hair rather than wear a wig. So far, no behind the scenes details on these costumes have been revealed.