Westeros Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 HBO has announced a number of additional castings for House of the Dragon, which is set to begin filming this April. Deadline has a good report with details, but we’ll summarize here: Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Hand of the King Steve Touissant as Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides Eve Best as Rhaenys Targaryen Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria read on >>> View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Quote “Pentos is the nearest of the Free Cities to King’s Landing, and trading ships pass back and forth between the two cities on an almost daily basis. Founded by Valyrians as a trading outpost, Pentos soon absorbed the hinterlands surrounding it…including almost the whole of the ancient realm of Andalos, the original homeland of the Andals. The first Pentoshi were merchants, traders, seafarers, and farmers, with few of high birth amongst them; perhaps for this reason, they were less protective of their Valyrian blood and more willing to breed with the original inhabitants of the lands they ruled. As a consequence there is considerable Andal blood amongst the men of Pentos, making them perhaps our closest cousins.” -- The World of Ice and Fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 I don't think this was a snap decision by HBO. The Valyria prequel leaks from summer 2018 said similar things about showing lower-ranking Valyrian families being mixed race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 They updated the official HBO site with character descriptions for each of them: Quote https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon aka “The Sea Snake.” The lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen, “The Sea Snake,” is the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros. He built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world. Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon. A dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, "The Queen Who Never Was" was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male. Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, who loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king's brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne. Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria. She came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall, and could have wilted...but instead she rose to become the most trusted — and most unlikely — ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne. This all pretty much checks out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 21 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said: I don't think this was a snap decision by HBO. The Valyria prequel leaks from summer 2018 said similar things about showing lower-ranking Valyrian families being mixed race. I'm not sure the relevance of it, since the Velaryons are not Pentoshi but of a "storied" Valyrian line and are described as being similar to the Targaryens in appearance. HBO has chosen to change it, seemingly... Or maybe not -- maybe, as in theatrical productions, it's just color-blind casting entirely where a performer's race is not necessarily the same as their character's race (as in Hamilton.) Or, to take a recent TV example, The Great where actors of Indian, African, and Asian origin all played historical Russian figures. We'll know more eventually. Honestly, the age thing caught my attention more. I feel like having Corlys a lot more aged than the others would have a useful effect on screen. And given their obvious casting preference, my dream of seeing Clarke Peters in the GoT franchise could at last have been realized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 ...Curious, looking at the official description page, they list her as "Princess Rhaenys Velaryon". ....Maybe they did that to try to differentiate her from all the other Rhaenys's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 yeah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Probably more to make her affiliation clearer. Annoying, though. Names have power. GoT never called Cersei anything but a Lannister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 yeah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 So I looked up this "Ron Schmidt" fellow, he was an executive producer on Watchmen: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0773176/ I can't tell if he's a "producer" who actually makes stuff, or if he's just yet another money guy. wait...also says he was a "unit production manager". So does this mean he's their Bernie Caulfield or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I'd expect that the ASoIaF history of House Velaryon - which is never mentioned in GoT at all - is not likely to be included in HoD. They are more likely to go with Corlys Velaryon as a selfmade man - great seafarer and explorer who made a fortune for himself to the point where he could woo a royal princess and dream about being the future king consort of Westeros - who has no previous relation to the Targaryens at all. But even if they stuck with the Velaryon backstory up to Corlys - it would be a significant worldbuilding change because the Velaryons are pretty much as famed for their Valyrian lineage and looks as the Targaryens themselves. Monford Velaryon and Aurane Waters still look very Valyrian even centuries after they left Valyria. I'd have preferred it if they had done something like that with the Strongs, Criston Cole, or some other character where the family history is not so much a crucial worldbuilding detail. Reinventing Mysaria as an Asian woman is no big deal. She doesn't have to be from Lys or could wear a wig. The important part about her role is that she is an ambitious prostitute and concubine with a cruel streak, not so much her ethnicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShimShim Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Sigh, I wish they would at least try to keep to the lore and worldbuilding when hiring for roles. A character from a family of Valyrian decent known to have Valyrian looks(, whats wrong with sticking to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 12 minutes ago, ShimShim said: Sigh, I wish they would at least try to keep to the lore and worldbuilding when hiring for roles. A character from a family of Valyrian decent known to have Valyrian looks(, whats wrong with sticking to that. For what it's worth, they could also have made some of the people they have children with black - or instance, Marilda of Hull, meaning Addam and Alyn could then have been black. Or as I said they could have reinvented the Strongs in this manner - or some of them, Lyonel Strong was married three times, after all. But Corlys Velaryon is just weird and could have considerable repercussions down the family tree in the sense they might even change the entire story of Laenor and Laena Velaryon - cutting them, changing them, etc. So far neither of them have been cast - and they should both appear in the first season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dragon Demands Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Lord Varys said: I'd expect that the ASoIaF history of House Velaryon - which is never mentioned in GoT at all - is not likely to be included in HoD. They are more likely to go with Corlys Velaryon as a selfmade man - great seafarer and explorer who made a fortune for himself to the point where he could woo a royal princess and dream about being the future king consort of Westeros - who has no previous relation to the Targaryens at all. But even if they stuck with the Velaryon backstory up to Corlys - it would be a significant worldbuilding change because the Velaryons are pretty much as famed for their Valyrian lineage and looks as the Targaryens themselves. Monford Velaryon and Aurane Waters still look very Valyrian even centuries after they left Valyria. Well the official character description they have for Corlys indeed states the Velaryons are an ancient Valyrian family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 18 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said: Well the official character description they have for Corlys indeed states the Velaryons are an ancient Valyrian family Oh, okay, then they might go with the idea that Corlys' mother or some other ancestor of the family was black. Could certainly work, but would be somewhat odd. This is the kind of case where I prefer a clean change/break. But what Ran mentioned about the actor not being that old also could be somewhat of an issue. Corlys Velaryon is a very old man during the Dance - and even in the 100s he is massively older than his wife, being two years older than Rhaenys' father, Prince Aemon, and that is also be a somewhat crucial feature of his character. ASoIaF is notorious for having mostly young and, at best, middle-aged characters, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithras Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 It looks like they will be dropping everything about the Strong bastards. Then what will the conflict be about? Elder female vs younger male, and that's it! They will be whitewashing Rhaenyra as some sort of compensation for what they did to Dany. What else could be expected from Hollywood in 2020s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron the Daring Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I've already lost interest in all this, so whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I find it hard to see how to drop the "Strongs" when they're so clearly a major part of the conflict. Is it that she has an affair with Daemon and the first children she claims as Laenor's are pure Targaryen in appearance, raising questions? But they can just argue that, hey, Laenor's half-Targaryen... I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. We've barely scratched the surface of the casting, since there's a lot of roles left to be filled. I figure if Strong is part of the story, they'll be announced at the same time as Criston Cole's actor is revealed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltharion21 Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Mithras said: It looks like they will be dropping everything about the Strong bastards. Then what will the conflict be about? Elder female vs younger male, and that's it! They will be whitewashing Rhaenyra as some sort of compensation for what they did to Dany. What else could be expected from Hollywood in 2020s? Well I daresay implication is not promising, even more since we usually don't agree on things. I read some in discussions on reddit propose that they merge character of Ser Criston Cole and Harwin Strong, like it wouldn't have any implications on the story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithras Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I mean, just look at the casting choices they are making on the side of the "blacks". I say the die has been cast on this one. Blacks are the Democrats, which makes the Greens Republicans. Of course the Blacks will fight for women rights; of course the Blacks will promote racial diversity; and in the process, of course the Blacks will be whitewashed from doing ugly stuff, like adultery or the Blood&Cheese thing. Actually, I would applaud all this farce if they were sincere in their agenda. If they truly mean it, I expect them to change the winner in the end as well and let a girl and/or a non-white half-Targaryen climb to the Iron Throne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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