Later this month, HBO's Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon is expected to fire up pre-production on its highly anticipated fourth and final season. Scripts will be finalized, sets will be built, costumes and props crafted, and by the time Spring 2027 arrives, everything will be ready for the cameras to start rolling. It's exciting times!
HBO's adaptation of the Dance of the Dragons civil war has had its ups and downs, but there's no doubt that House of the Dragon season 4 will have to pull out all the stops as we speed toward its conclusion. And while Game of Thrones often had a bit of optimism laced through its darkness, don't expect any such respite from HOTD. This is a Shakespearean tragedy set in Westeros. As Ramsay Bolton once said, if you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
All this is to say, when the Dance finally ends, many of the characters we know and love will have met grisly demises. Yet House of the Dragon is also in the interesting position that time will march on after it. When Game of Thrones ended, it felt final; by contrast, when House of the Dragon ends, there will be centuries more history to go, with most of the Targaryen rulers yet to sit the Iron Throne.
How will Westeros find its way forward? Who will steer the ship? Based on what we know from George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood, some of the answers might surprise you. Here are six characters who will chart the course of the Seven Kingdoms after the bitter feud between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon II finally ends. There will be MAJOR SPOILERS from the book beyond this point.
1. Cregan Stark
If you haven't read Fire & Blood, here comes your first gut punch: by the time the Dance of the Dragons is over, both Rhaenyra and Aegon are dead. The remaining political power players in King's Landing like Alicent Hightower and Corlys Velaryon prop up Rhaenyra and Daemon's son Aegon III as the new King of the Seven Kingdoms, but as he's a child, they retain most of the actual control over the realm.
That all changes with the arrival of Lord Cregan Stark, who arrives in King's Landing at the head of a massive army of northmen. They marched south to fight in the war, only to find it already over by the time they got there. So instead of warring, Cregan takes de facto control of the capital, throwing characters like Corlys and Larys Strong in the dungeon because of their role in Aegon II's death, and seeking to help establish an actual legitimate council of regents to aid young Aegon III.
Cregan becomes Hand of the King for a very brief time in order to pass judgment on those who are left standing after the Dance of the Dragons, in what comes to be known as the Hour of the Wolf. His steady hand is the one that truly bridges the gap from the end of the war, to the period of tentative peace that comes afterward. He's only had a minor role in House of the Dragon so far, but we're definitely expecting him to return late in season 4 in a big way.
2. Tyland Lannister
When Cregan Stark departs King's Landing, he leaves a solid council of regents in place to rule until Aegon III comes of age. The regents have a mix of Greens and Blacks, in an attempt to help unify the realm. The first among them is Tyland Lannister, who serves as Aegon's Hand of the King for several years after the Dance of the Dragons.
In the book, Tyland has been mutilated at the hands of Rhaenyra's torturers, so he wears a hood to hide his gruesome appearance. The Hooded Hand, as he comes to be known, is not a beloved figure by the people of King's Landing...but he is an exceptional Hand of the King who serves Aegon III well. His guidance is some of the best Aegon gets during the immediate aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons; few have a larger role in bringing a bit of stability back to Westeros.
House of the Dragon season 3 surprised viewers with a fakeout death for Tyland that made it seem like a major deviation was afoot, but by the end of the season he was still on the board. He hasn't been captured by Rhaenyra yet, so we may not see him get tortured like he does in the book, but either way, I'd firmly expect him to stick around to the end of the Dance and beyond.
3. Jeyne Arryn
Lady Jeyne Arryn is another one of Aegon III's regents, which is going to be a trend for most of the characters on this list. The matriarch of House Arryn and ruler of the Vale made a huge impression in House of the Dragon season 3, where the riveting performance of actress Amanda Collin stole basically every scene she was in. A common sentiment I saw floating around online is that Lady Jeyne acted more regal and interesting than many of the actual rulers in the show, and while that's a fun bit of musing, it also should absolutely come home to roost by the end of the show with her going to King's Landing and actually helping rule the realm until Aegon III comes of age.
Jeyne doesn't leave quite as large a mark as Tyland Lannister or Cregan Stark, but she still plays an outsize part in the governance of the realm as a regent. Her impact only becomes greater when she eventually resigns her post and returns to the Vale, where she falls ill and a power struggle for the weirwood throne of the Eyrie gets underway. This is one of the next minor conflicts that the regents and King Aegon must deal with, and it ripples outward in unexpected ways that affect the remaining Targaryens.
4. Torrhen Manderly
Yet another regent who helps rule the realm is Ser Torrhen Manderly, who was introduced in House of the Dragon season 3. Torrhen and his older brother Ser Medrick play a much larger role in Fire & Blood than they do in the show, on account of a marriage pact Rhaenyra's son Jace made with the Manderlys during his tour of the North to gain allies for the Blacks. But the fact that he's appeared in House of the Dragon at all means there's a very good chance the show is planning on including him in its endgame.
Like Lady Jeyne and Lord Tyland, Torrhen is one of Aegon III's regents. However, he serves far longer than the rest, coming and going as needed and helping to claw back what bits of stability he can for Aegon. In fact, Torrhen Manderly is the last Hand of the King that Aegon has before he comes of age and is able to rule on his own.
That becomes something of a sticking point between the two, as Aegon's brusque dismissal of Torrhen offends the northerner. However, the young king's reasons make a lot more sense when you take the full breadth of his regency in mind. Don't worry, we'll talk about it momentarily.
5. Corlys Velaryon
Of all the characters on this list, Corlys Velaryon is the one who has the largest impact on the entire saga of the Dance of the Dragons. He's a major character from the jump, and that holds true even after the war ends. When Rhaenyra falls and Aegon II seems determined to keep the war going until every last supporter of the Blacks is slain, Corlys takes action, helping hatch a plot to poison the king in order to avoid even greater bloodshed.
This does not sit well with Cregan Stark, who is just as strict in matters of honor as his descendant, Ned. Yet Cregan is ultimately swayed away from executing Corlys. Insead, the Sea Snake joins Aegon III's council of regents and continues to serve him well. He may have resorted to a bit of treachery to get rid of Aegon II, but Corlys' conviction that it was done for the right reason never wanes.
Because of all this, it's no surprise that Corlys Velaryon serves Aegon III loyally until his death of natural causes shortly after the Dance. Corlys is one of the few characters during this period of war in Westeros to live a long and full life, and regardless of any stains on his honor by the end, he does his best by the realm and his young king.
6. Alyn Velaryon
The last character on our list isn't a regent, but arguably plays an even bigger role than many of them. Corlys Velaryon's bastard son Alyn has already played a prominent part in the HBO show, where he was aged up to be a more active participant in the war. However, in the book, his main impact on the story is really felt in the years afterward, where he takes over ruling House Velaryon following Corlys' death and becomes just as renowned a hero and sea captain as his father.
Much of Alyn's prominence comes from two avenues. The first is how he butts heads with another regent who hasn't been introduced in House of the Dragon as of this writing: Lord Unwin Peake. If there's one new character the show needs to introduce next season, it's arguably Unwin. This grasping southron lord is not initially part of the council of regents, but takes up the mantle as some die and vacancies open up. He eventually finds his way to Hand of the King, where he starts using the position to enrich his own house while leeching power away from the rightful ruler of the realm.
Against that nefarious force, Alyn Velaryon becomes a beacon to the people of the realm as well as Aegon III. He wins naval battles, barters with pirates, sails around Westeros and beyond, and has a hand in putting down some of the last vestiges of the war. Alyn Velaryon becomes a beloved figure, much to the irritation of Unwin Peake, who constantly tries to get rid of him.
The other way that Alyn impacts the story is even larger: he discovers the fate of Viserys Targaryen, Aegon III's brother who was lost during the Battle of the Gullet. This quite literally shapes the future of Westeros in ways that we won't spoil here. Since both Aegon and Viserys were cut from the Battle of the Gullet in the show and are still presumably in the Free Cities, we don't know exactly how this will all play out in House of the Dragon. But whatever happens, the chances are very good that Alyn Oakenfist will be involved.
Look for all these characters and more in House of the Dragon season 4, premiering on HBO sometime in 2028. We'll have our ear to the ground for all the latest updates from production.
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