15 characters from Fire & Blood we want to see a lot of in House of the Dragon
If you’re a fan of George R.R. Martin’s books, waiting is as natural as breathing. The fantasy author behind the Song of Ice and Fire series seems to love torturing his fans by making them wait long years between installments of his legendary book series. Between novels, he wrote a whole other book called Fire & Blood, that is now being adapted by HBO into a brand new series: House of the Dragon.
We recently learned that the show will be arriving in August. Set some 200 years before the story we know from Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is about the Dance of the Dragons, a brutal civil war fought over the Iron Throne between two different factions of the Targaryen dynasty. HBO is putting a lot of emphasis on the big players, including would-be queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and her violent uncle Daemon, (Matt Smith). But this story is just as jam-packed with characters as Game of Thrones was, and they all deserve their due.
With that in mind, let’s look at 15 characters from Fire & Blood we want to see on the show, but who either haven’t been cast yet or haven’t been given much attention.
Aegon Targaryen The Second
The eldest child of Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), Aegon is one of two main claimants to the Iron Throne during the war, the other being his elder half-sister Rhaenyra, who was promised the crown before her father died and isn’t about to give it up just because she isn’t a man, which some think gives Aegon the better claim. The conflict between these two will plunge the country into civil war.
Aegon is lewd and cruel. Quick to anger and slow to forgiveness, he is known to frequent brothels and taverns from an early age. He has an insatiable sexual appetite and is married to his younger sister Helaena, as is custom for Targaryens. He rides a golden dragon named Sunfyre and has an big role to play in the Dance.
That said, his role gets bigger as the tale goes on, which may be why there hasn’t been a lot of focus on him during the lead up to season 1, where he’ll be played by Tom Glynn-Carney. He’ll have some juicy, grim material to work with if the show continues and the golden Targaryen child falls from grace.
Aemond Targaryen
The Last Kingdom star Ewan Mitchell will play Aemond Targaryen on the show. Again, his part gets bigger as the tale goes on, which may be why HBO hasn’t been putting him out in front.
Aegon’s younger brother, Aemond One-Eye is probably the greatest villain that will come out of this story. He loses his eye in a brawl with his cousins — Rhaenyra’s children — early in life, which will likely be a big moment in the first season, although at this point Aemond is still a kid and won’t yet be played by Mitchell. It’s important to furthering the Targaryen vs. Velaryon feud that will last all the way through the war.
Aemond is a fierce warrior who rides the largest and oldest of all the Targaryen Dragons: Vhagar. Mitchell will have his work cut out for him playing a ruthless warrior who participates in more dragon-versus-dragon battles than any other character.
Daeron Targaryen
The youngest of King Viserys’ sons by Alicent Hightower, Daeron is also the most level-headed and kind of the bunch. Sent to Oldtown to become a maester at a young age, Prince Daeron is absent from the Civil War for the majority of the story. However, aboard his Blue Dragon Tessarion, Daeron has an important role to play in some of the battles.
Daeron has not been cast in House of the Dragon yet.
Helaena Targaryen
When a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin. If Aegon and Aemond are on the wrong sides of that coin, Daeron and Helaena are on the right sides. Helaena is a happy, free-spirited girl who’s dragon is the beautiful Dreamfyre. She has a tragic story as a struggling Mother who’s forced to watch as her family is slowly annihilated by violence.
Halaena is married her older brother Aegon, as was the style at the time. She’ll be played on the show by Phia Saban.
Maester Orwyle
After King Viserys dies, his widow Alicent moves to secure her son Aegon’s claim to the throne, while elsewhere his daughter Rhaenyra declares herself queen, thus starting off the conflict that will bloom into war. Maester Orwyle is in Alicent’s camp, and is part of the conspiracy to get Aegon onto the throne after the death of the king.
We don’t know who will be playing Orwyle, or even if he will be cast; it’s possible his role will be combined with that of Maester Mellos, who will be played by David Horovitch.