Given House of the Dragon faced the daunting task of resetting the Game of Thrones franchise in the wake of the disastrous final season of the main series, you’d probably expect HBO to be as safe as possible with its second TV show in Westeros.
Remarkably, the prestigious network has gone completely in the opposite direction, and in House of the Dragon it made one of the boldest TV moves of the year. When I found out that the first season of the fantasy drama would span over 15 years, and recast her lead roles to account for the time jump between episodes, I was very skeptical. My intuition said it was a disastrous call that would confuse viewers and lead to a disjointed narrative.
However, this decision to set the show up over a longer period of time, and to take advantage of the effects of reframing rather than the effects of removing digital aging or recurring flashbacks, has become a major lesson in properly telling epic storylines. House of the Dragon has really given a sense of character progression that few shows can match.
As someone who swears all things on Thrones in revenge for what I still rate as one of the worst TV finals ever, House of the Dragon has once again made me eager to consume more of the brutal world that George R.R. Martin created and brought to life by HBO. Much to my surprise, the show’s recasting of the main characters was a big part of its appeal.
Epic history lesson
Set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon focuses on the House Targaryen and the legendary civil war on the legitimate succession to the Iron Throne that will eventually be known as Dance of the Dragon. This conflict eventually leads to the downfall of the family often referred to by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in the original Game of Thrones series.
House of the Dragon is based in part on Martin’s Fire & Blood companion novel, which tells the history of the House Targaryen and explores how the once powerful dynasty eventually collapsed. It’s an epic story spanning hundreds of years, which of course makes any TV adaptation somewhat challenging for a number of reasons.
Thankfully, House of the Dragon curators Ryan Kondal and Miguel Saposhnik made the wise decision to focus on a specific part of Targaryen’s history, rather than trying to cover the entire book’s timeline. However, the events of House of the Dragon still take place over several decades. We follow its lead characters from young children to adult adults, and it is a perilous journey, especially in the world of Thrones.
Dragon House started strong
Nearly a dozen of the show’s crew have already been recast over the past seven episodes (and there’s another time to skip ahead), but the show’s two most important characters, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, have been played by two separate actresses first in their youth and now as adults.
The show kicked off with Millie Alcock playing the teenage Princess Rainera, while Emily Carey played little Aliscent. It’s fair to say that viewers quickly took these character photos, and for good reason, Alcock and Carrie were great in their roles.
Both perfectly embody two characters who suffer from an internal struggle between family expectations and the desire for independence. There was, of course, an added layer of complexity that made the pair’s previous cohesive friendship quickly falter.
Alcock in particular developed a fan base almost overnight, and even if her time on House of the Dragon (and according to kundal (Opens in a new tab) he), this show attracted her to the public eye. I’d be shocked if we didn’t notice a lot of new projects popping up over the coming years. The same certainly applies to Carrie, too.
After the two young actresses were successful and popular with viewers after only a few episodes, I was preparing myself for the show to fall back to earth when episode six rolled and House of the Dragon moved forward ten years. It didn’t happen, instead, the show soared to new heights.
Lightning stuck twice
For the rest of the season—and presumably, the rest of the show’s life—Rainera and Aliscent were portrayed by Emma Darcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively. And these two more experienced actors definitely have an eye on their younger counterparts.
While I was quietly confident that Cooke would be up to the task—she’s great in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl—the strength of feeling about Milly Alcock’s quietly groundbreaking performance made me seriously concerned that D’Arcy might pale in comparison. But we’ve been sitting in a couple episodes since the switch, and I’m pleasantly surprised at how smooth the transition has been.
You could argue back and forth about which image you personally prefer, but the beauty of House of the Dragon that has been shown over such a long period of time is that we see these characters in different stages of their lives.
While Alcock and D’Arcy (plus Carey and Cooke) technically play the same people, their performance cannot be directly compared. After all, a person really changes over a decade, especially when transitioning from a child to an adult.
House of the Dragon’s dangers avoid previous falls
In many ways, recasting the main characters was the most likely path HBO couldn’t take. The practice of de-aging with digital effects is becoming increasingly common, as we’ve seen in recent years with The Mandalorian on Disney Plus and Netflix’s The Irishman. Both to somewhat mixed results, I might add.
Even if HBO decided that it would be too costly to digitally eradicate an actor’s aging in several episodes, they instead tried to make an older actor look younger through wardrobe, make-up, and camera tricks – see this year Orphan: First Kill as an example where these methods were published . Again, to mixed results.
Or, alternatively, HBO could have started the show with Rhaenyra and Alicent fully grown, then generously used flashbacks to recount their youth. This would have allowed the audience to instantly identify with the characters as it would for the majority of the show, but wouldn’t have made the crucial early separation from the justice of the story. And it probably makes the show feel too fragmented.
Instead, HBO has taken, what I consider to be the most dangerous step possible, introducing us to the characters at an early age, allowing us to develop an association with these specific versions of the character, and then use time-jumps and paraphrasing to move the story forward. It’s a decision that could have backfired dramatically, but it did nothing but .
The outlook: House of Dragon rework is genius and I’m ready for more
On a very basic level, one of the best things about recasting is that it allows so many actors to shine. As noted, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D’Arcy have all been fantastic throughout House of the Dragon’s run so far. The time leap allowed all four women to appear on a high-profile TV show and showcase their immense talents rather than just two of them. This is reason enough to estimate time jumps.
On a narrative level, it also allowed us to compare how these characters had changed over a long period of time, and how the power dynamics and interpersonal relationships between them had changed. So far, House of the Dragon has felt truly epic from a storytelling perspective, and the rework has played an important role in ensuring that each character looks noticeably different across each time period.
The third time shift, which is believed to be final, from Season 1 of House of the Dragon is said to appear in Episode 8, Lord of the Tides, and while Rhaenyra and Alicent will not be recast, their children will switch actors once in a while. The idea of skipping a few times used to worry me, but now I’m all set and can’t wait to see what the new cast members bring to their specific roles.
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