In the first season of House of the Dragon, there's a scene where a young Rhaenyra Targaryen visits the castle of Storm's End to hold court for a variety of potential suitors, all of whom want to marry the heir apparent to the Iron Throne. At one point, a young man named Willem Blackwood presents himself to Rhaenyra. He's very young — "and now a child," as a flabbergasted Rhaenyra says — and probably doesn't stand much of a chance with the dragon princess. Gotta shoot your shot, though.
Anyway, Willem is heckled by another potential suitor in the room: the much older Jerrel Bracken. The scene ends with Willem stabbing Jerrel in the gut, ending an already diffcult day on a real downer. Readers of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series known that Houes Blackwood and Bracken, both from the Riverlands, have a very history of rivalry, so it was no accident that these two specifically went at it.
We've heard that the Blackwoods and Brackens will again go it in the second season of House of the Dragon, engaging in a skirmish called the Battle of the Burning Mill. This is one of the first proper battles in the Dance of the Dragons, the war between Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon for control of the Iron Throne. Always rivals, obviously the Blackwoods and Brackens choose different sides, with the Blackwoods supporting Rhaenyra and the Brackens declaring for Aegon.
According to @HouseTheDragons, which has been digging up lots of great info as we lead up to season 2, English actor Tim Faraday will play Amos Bracken, who plays a key role in these early events.
NEW: Tim Faraday is Amos Bracken.
— The Greens (@thetargtowers) March 5, 2024
Amos Bracken was a knight from House Bracken. His father was Lord Humfrey Bracken of Stone Hedge and his bastard half-brother was Ser Raylon Rivers.
House Bracken declared for the greens during the Dance of the Dragons
via @housethedragons pic.twitter.com/Mb30J0cGg2
According to Martin's book Fire & Blood, during the Battle of the Burning Mill, Amos kills Samwell Blackwood, whom he had defeated many years earlier in a duel for Rhaenyra Targaryen's hand, yet another example of the eternal Blackwood-Bracken rivalry. It's hard to say how deeply House of the Dragon will go into the Blackwood-Bracken backstory, but it's a fun little corner of Westerosi history we didn't see much of on Game of Thrones, so I like that House of the Dragon is featuring it.
During the Battle of the Burning Mill, Amos Bracken also tangles with a characters named Alysanne Blackwood, known as Black Aly. She goes on to have a bigger role in the Dance of the Dragons, but we'll let some things remain mysteries for now.
As for Faraday, he's an experienced actor who's been working in film and TV for decades, appearing in stuff like Snatch, Gangs of New York, Doctor Who, Eastenders, Coronation Street and Star Wars: Andor. He's just one of the many new actors joining the cast of House of the Dragon for season 2, which is due out in June.
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