No, HBO didn’t put out a casting call for Aegon and his sisters

Game of Thrones fans everywhere are hyped for House of the Dragon, HBO’s follow-up to Game of Thrones. HBO has put together a solid creative team, committed to telling a story about the incredibly interesting Targaryen family, and set a tentative release date of 2022. So piqued as we are, we have a while to wait before we see anything concrete from this series.

That’s part of the reason why this next bit raised eyebrows: the other day, a site called Knight Edge Media reported that HBO was looking to cast three key characters from Targaryen history: Aegon I Targaryen and his sisters, who invaded Westeros and established the Targaryen dynasty some 300 years before the start of the story proper. They even had character descriptions:

"Aegon Targaryen: 20s, Caucasian Male. Married his two sisters VISENYA and RHAENYS. Withdrawn, quiet, pious. Harsh with those who defy him. Riding the dragon Balerion. LEADVisenya Targaryen: 20s, Caucasian Female. Older sister and wife of King AEGON TARGARYEN. A voluptuous, stern, serious, and unforgiving woman. Riding the dragon Vhagar. LEADRhaenys Targaryen: 20s, Caucasian Female. Youngest sister of King AEGON TARGARYEN. Kindhearted, graceful, playful, curious, impulsive, and given to flights of fancy, with a mischievous aspect to her personality. Riding the dragon Meraxes. LEAD"

Now, I dunno exactly who’s getting what wrong here, but the odds of this casting call being genuine are vanishingly small. For starters, it should ring alarm bells that those descriptions are basically lifted directly from A Wiki of Ice and Fire. Just look at the Wiki description for Rhaenys — “She was kindhearted, graceful, playful, curious, impulsive, and given to flights of fancy, with a mischievous aspect to her personality” — and compare it to the character description in the call. It’s the exact same thing.

Also, the timing is way off. If HBO is targeting a 2022 release date, it’s far too early to begin casting; we probably won’t see that for months at least, and if we catch wind of it, HBO very likely won’t include character names at all, at least not if House of the Dragon follows the same protocols as Game of Thrones did. And with roles this big, HBO would probably just reach out to actors directly, anyway.

Finally, although we don’t know all the details, the best information available suggests that House of the Dragon will be set during the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war that tore Westeros apart over 100 years after Aegon’s invasion, long after Aegon and his sisters had died. It’s possible — maybe even preferable — that the scope of the show could be broader than that, but we doubt it. And if Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys show up at all, it very likely won’t be as leads.

So I’m sorry to poop on anyone’s party, but we shouldn’t take this casting report as real. When HBO does put out casting calls for House of the Dragon, rest assured that we’ll be here to geek out about them.

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