Yes, 'House of the Dragon' is Making a 'Sesame Street' Joke

If you chuckled at "Grover and Oscar Tully," you and George R.R. Martin have the same sense of humor.

By Michael Hein

House of the Dragon Season 2 has not been entirely faithful to George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, but it has kept a fan-favorite Easter egg. This week, we saw an incredible performance from Archie Barnes as Oscar Tully, the new lord of the Riverlands after the death of his grandfather, Grover. As book readers know, Martin named several members of House Tully after Muppets and Sesame Street characters in this part of the story.

We heard a lot about Lord Grover throughout this season, as Daemon was essentially hoping for him to pass away so that he could use the influence of House Tully to unite the Riverlands and raise an army. He never appeared on screen, but Barnes pulled off a magnificent performance by appearing first as confused and distraught in the face of Daemon's callousness, then masterfully returning shrewd and calculating in Episode 7. The show version of Oscar has actually been merged with two other characters from the book – Elmo and Kermit.

oscar-the-grouch-house-of-the-dragon-hbo-getty.jpg
(Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO/Noam Galai/Getty Images)

This change is not too drastic, but some fans are good-naturedly disappointed that more Tullys with Muppet names won't be turning up later. In the book, Grover was succeeded by his grandson Elmo, who seems to have been removed from the show altogether. Sadly, Elmo only outlived his grandfather by 49 days, as he died from drinking unclean water while his army was on the march.

Elmo was succeeded by his eldest son Kermit in the book, while the book version of Oscar was actually Kermit's younger brother. It's no surprise that the show combined these three characters – it didn't even spare the screen time to depict Grover on screen, so adding in two more flamboyant names without faces might confuse some viewers. Out of the four names, Kermit and Elmo would probably have stuck out the most, while Grover and Oscar can both pass for believable names in Westeros.

Related:

Fans have even found that these Muppet references go a bit deeper with these characters, highlighting Martin's attention to detail. The book describes Oscar as "green as summer grass" – a colloquialism for his inexperience in battle, but also a reference to the green fur of Oscar the Grouch. The show matched this reference in Episode 7 when Oscar said: "I am still green in these matters." On top of that, the colors of the other characters match the names of the three major rivers that run through the Riverlands – the Red Fork, the Green Fork, and the Blue Fork, each a part of the larger body known as The Trident. Red matches Elmo, Green matches both Oscar and Kermit the Frog, while Blue matches Grover.

Fans may not love every change this adaptation is making, and it seems Martin doesn't either, but touches like this show that the writers and producers are also big fans of the books and are honoring the source material wherever they can. House of the Dragon Season 2 concludes on Sunday, Aug. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. Martin's books are available now in print, digital and audiobook formats.

Trending Now: