Yes, those new House of the Dragon characters are named after Sesame Street

The newest episode of House of the Dragon finds Daemon Targaryen still at the crumbling castle of Harrenhal, trying to raise an army on behalf of his wife, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. To that end, he meets with the Lord Paramount of the Trident, Lord Grover Tully.

Or at least, that's who he expects to meet. But Lord Grover is an old man dying in his bed, so instead Daemon meets with Grover's grandson Oscar Tully.

The meeting doesn't go well, but that's not the point. If you're wondering whether the names "Grover" and "Oscar" are references to the Muppets on Sesame Street, you're right: it's just one of the many pop culture references that author George R.R. Martin slipped into his Song of Ice and Fire series, which HBO adapted as Game of Thrones; and into his book Fire & Blood, which HBO is adapting as House of the Dragon.

In fact, the Seseme Street references are even more obvious in Fire & Blood. On the book, we learn about Grover Tully, the head of House Tully, as well as his grandson Elmo Tully. Elmo has two sons: Kermit and Oscar Tully. House of the Dragon seems to have cut out Elmo. Oscar tells us that his father, whoever he was, is already dead; in the book, Elmo Tully lives for a while yet and plays a role in the story.

Also, in Fire & Blood, Oscar's older brother Kermit is the heir to Riverrun, and Oscar is the second son. But on the show, Oscar is identified as Lord Grover's heir, which suggests to me that Kermit Tully has also been cut out of House of the Dragon. Maybe the producers figured that two characters with names inspired by Sesame Street was enough, and that including four would start to feel too silly for its own good.

If House of the Dragon follows the book, both Grover and Oscar Tully will come up again. New episodes air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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