Alicent's Kingsguard knight Ser Rickard Thorne is the ancestor of a hated Game of Thrones character

One of my favorite things about watching HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is ferreting out all the little ways it connects to the original show. Throughout its two seasons, House of the Dragon has given us plenty of ties, from Aegon's prophecy to familiar locations and connected lore. Then there are the ancestors; House of the Dragon is absolutely chock-full of characters who share bloodlines with fan-favorite characters from Thrones. From Oscar Tully being a distant ancestor of Catelyn Stark to Daemon and Rhaenyra's bloodline extending to characters like Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and Oberyn Martell, the family trees make for a compelling study.

In its latest episode, "The Red Sowing," House of the Dragon brought another character to the fore: Ser Rickard Thorne, the loyal Kingsguard knight played by One Piece's Vincent Regan. This episode gave him more screentime as Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) brought him along on a camping expedition to the Kingswood.

If Rickard Thorne's name tickled something at the back of your mind, there's a reason. Like so many other characters, he has a relative who appears in Game of Thrones. In this case, that relative is a spiteful, memorable villain who delighted in making Jon Snow's life as miserable as possible.

Ser Rickard Thorne is a distant ancestor of Ser Alliser Thorne

Yes, I'm talking about Ser Alliser Thorne, the bitter master-at-arms of Castle Black played by Owen Teale. Ser Alliser had a long run on Game of Thrones, appearing in the first six seasons of the series before he was executed for facilitating a coup against Jon once he ascended to Lord Commander. In all that time, Ser Alliser was ever a thorn in Jon's side (I swear I didn't plan that pun). From the minute Jon got to Castle Black and started standing up for his downtrodden friend Samuel Tarly, Alliser made it his personal mission to make things as difficult as possible for Jon and Sam.

That's not to say he didn't also have his own honorable streak. Ser Alliser was also the very first person to bring word of the wights to King's Landing, though it was pretty much ignored. When the wildlings attacked the Wall, Ser Alliser led the defenses until he was wounded so grievously that Jon Snow was forced to take over.

And then there's the matter of how Alliser ended up in the Night's Watch in the first place. When Tywin Lannister sacked King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion, Ser Alliser was manning the battlements of the city. He refused to bend the knee, holding to the centuries of loyalty his house paid to House Targaryen. When faced with execution or the Night's Watch, Ser Alliser chose banishment to the Wall and continued serving the realm. He may have been a pain in the ass, but he was an honorable pain in the ass.

As it turns out, that fits pretty neatly with the history of House Thorne, what little of it there is. House Thorne is a small house in the Crownlands which pays direct fealty to King's Landing. As far as Westerosi houses go, very little has been recorded about House Thorne. A Wiki of Ice and Fire, which is basically the online encyclopedic resource for anything that's been mentioned in George R.R. Martin's books, only has three members of House Thorne listed. Considering how much Martin has written about his fantasy world, he spends surprisingly little time on this particular house.

The three members of House Thorne who have been mentioned in the books so far are Ser Rickard Thorne, Ser Alliser Thorne, and Ser Adrian Thorne, who served as the Commander of the City Watch in the years following the Dance of the Dragons. All three of them were leal servants of House Targaryen.

As for Alliser's relation to House of the Dragon's Rickard, it's pretty much a certainty that he's not a direct descendant of Rickard himself. Rickard was a knight of the Kingsguard sworn to chastity, and the book Fire & Blood never makes any mention of him having children of his own. So while they are all part of the same family tree, Alliser likely came from a different offshoot of the noble house. Perhaps Adrian's, perhaps whichever Thorne served as the head of their household. The truth is lost to time until and unless Martin reveals it. Even still, it's a fascinating connection between two characters whose struggles took place centuries apart.

Only one more episode remains in House of the Dragon season 2. It airs this Sunday on HBO and Max.

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