The Star of House of the Dragon Teases the Show’s New Targaryen Queen

Olivia Cooke, star of House of the Dragon, talks the complexity of the characters and how the events of the series will make people want to see the worst in the Targaryen Queen. House of the Dragon is a new fantasy series that will premiere on HBO Max later this year. The prequel is set hundreds of years before the struggle between the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryens in Game of Thrones, and is based on author George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire and Blood.

The first season of House of the Dragon will consist of ten episodes and will premiere in 2022. It depicts the origins of House Targaryen’s fall from power in Westeros, as depicted in the A Song of Ice and Fire trilogy. Queen Alicent Hightower of Westeros, the second wife of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), is in a fight with her stepdaughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, over the right to the Iron Throne in the prequel.

ALSO READ – Prequel To Game Of Thrones Filming On House Of The Dragon Has Resumed

House of the Dragon

Cooke stated to Collider during a brief interview about the prequel that the rivalry between Queen Alicent and Emma D’Arcy’s Princess Rhaenyra will bring out the worst in her character. She goes on to discuss the complexities of the other rulers and characters in Game of Thrones, whose narcissistic personalities and immoral habits led them to execute horrible acts for their own advantage on numerous occasions.

Queen Alicent, like the renowned female rulers who came after her some hundred years after House of the Dragon – especially, Cersei Lannister and the “Mad Queen” Daenerys Targaryen – Cooke hints that she will go to any length to ensure her family’s place on the Iron Throne.“She’s complicated, and I believe people will want to see the worst in her.”

Many viewers of House of the Dragon will already be familiar with the types of deeds that the Kings and Queens of George R.R. Martin’s universe were willing to commit in order to maintain their rule and legacy in Westeros.

With the main plot of the prequel focusing on how the Targaryen line became powerless and vulnerable by the start of Game of Thrones, and Olivia Cooke detailing the morally grey villainy of her character to come, it appears that viewers will be in for some female-centered empowerment, rivalry, and leadership, in a showdown that will eventually show the downfall of the much-loved Targaryen line.