If you thought you’d never see a family more messed up than the Lannisters, HBO just said hold my Starbucks.
Game of Thrones tweeted out new casting news on Friday for its upcoming prequel, House of the Dragon, revealing that Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers) and Matt Smith (The Crown) would be the fresh new faces of House Targaryen.
And take a good look, because there aren’t too many happy family reunions coming after this.
In Game of Thrones, Maester Aemon once said, “A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing.” Well, it turns out a bunch of them isn’t that great either.
All of the new characters are key in the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons: a bloody, dragon-filled fight for the Iron Throne. The war seems to be the main conflict explored in the series, and — if you know nothing, Jon Snow — here’s who’s who.
Olivia Cooke Is Alicent Hightower
She’s the daughter of the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, in George R.R. Martin’s books and becomes the second wife of King Viserys Targaryen, who’s played in the show by Paddy Considine.
HBO didn’t specifically mention the wife detail in its character description, so perhaps that won’t happen until the series begins.
Alicent is a trouble maker, everyone. It’s directly because of her actions, which we won’t spoil, that the Dance of the Dragons takes place.
Emma D’Arcy Is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
Rhaenyra is King Viserys’ first-born child, a dragon rider and possible heir to the Iron Throne. But Westeros is a pretty misogynistic place, and not everyone’s down with women ruling.
Interestingly, HBO’s description of the character says, “Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything ... but she was not born a man.” That definitely feels like Cersei (Lena Headey) vibes.
(Spoiler alert! Stepmom Alicent and Rhaenyra probably aren’t going to get along.)
And finally ...
Matt Smith Is Prince Daemon Targaryen
Daemon is King Viserys’ younger brother, also a possible heir to the throne and ... kind of a creep?
HBO’s description hints that he’s not going to be a great dude. “It is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air,” HBO says. That’s the same excuse used for Daenerys going mad queen in Game of Thrones.
In Martin’s stories, the prince rode Caraxes the Blood Wyrm, one of the fiercest dragons the realm ever saw and the dragon thought to be teased in recent concept art for the series.
Production begins in 2021. Brace yourselves: Targaryens are coming.