House of the Dragon season 3 is bringing in a slew of new characters to showcase how the Dance of the Dragons has expanded into a massive war. It will also give a better showcase to the characters introduced in season 2, who step up significantly as the conflict continues.
That includes Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), the bastard son of Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and a veteran sailor for House Velaryon. He’s loyal to his father even while he’s bitter over not being acknowledged as a trueborn son. He’s also one of the few who doesn’t seek personal power, preferring life as a sailor.
Speaking to Polygon, actor Abubakar Salim discussed his interpretation of Alyn, who will start season 2 with plenty of action scenes thanks to the upcoming Battle of the Gullet. As it happens, Salim drew inspiration from a name famous in video game circles: Kratos from God of War.
“Kratos is a man who has also been wronged by his father, who is trying to start anew with a family, who has only felt and seen rage and felt wronged by his lineage," Salim explained. "There’s a lot to unpack there and [find] similarities with Alyn. Alyn’s power comes from rage — this kind of unkempt anger — and I think it’s dangerous. In moments of crisis, or in moments of fighting, he taps into that.”
God of War began as a PlayStation 2 game in 2005. It told the story of Kratos, the son of Zeus, who served the Greek gods only to be betrayed. That set him off on a grand quest that ended with him slaughtering the gods and becoming the new God of War. The games are among PlayStation's biggest successes, spanning several consoles and five best-selling installments. There’s also a Prime Video adaptation coming.
It’s easy to see a lot of Kratos in Salim’s performance as Alyn. It’s not just the imposing build or gruff voice but also Alyn dealing with a manipulative father who’s long ignored him and yet sees a potential to start a new family and bond with him. Salim says more of that will come in the next year.
“A lot of the time when you see him, he keeps to himself, just does his job, does whatever he needs to do because he knows that there is something in there that he doesn’t want to let out," the actor said. "But you see that at the Gullet, and you see a little bit of it bubbling when he has the go at Corlys in [season 2] episode 8.”
How the Gullet will change Alyn
The big showcase for the season 3 premiere will be the Battle of the Gullet, described as not just an epic sea battle but possibly the biggest combat sequence in the entire Game of Thrones franchise. Alyn will be part of the conflict as Corlys' ship, the Queen That Ever Was, goes at it with pirate Admiral Sharako Lohan (Abigail Thorn).
“Abigail is a force of nature,” Salim said. “We both had this agreement of let’s make this as brutal and angry and as epic as we can. We’re both nerds, so we were both channeling some form of character or beast. I was very much leaning into Kratos that whole time. It was like God of War. Pull this in. Kill whatever I can. It was really something.”
Anyone who’s played the God of War games knows the sheer brutality Kratos is capable of. The man leaves carnage in his wake and if Alyn has even a tenth of that skill, he’s capable of proving himself just as much as top-notch a fighter as he is a sailor.
It’s an unexpected connection between franchises, but it sounds like any God of War fan would be well-suited to check out House of the Dragon and see how well Salim channels the fire of Kratos!
House of the Dragon season 3 premieres Sunday June 21 on HBO.
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