House of the Dragon star Graham McTavish has teased that season 2 will contain more Game of Throne style action, and a more familiar Westeros.
The Hobbit and Outlander actor plays Ser Harrold Westerling, Lord Commander under King Viserys (Paddy Considine) – aka one of Westeros’ only decent men.
Chatting to Metro.co.uk about what could come next, after a second season was quickly greenlit, Graham explained: I think the way that it’s going, is it’s leading towards civil war.
‘Civil war is that great thing that countries indulge in when they haven’t got anybody else to go and fight, they seem to just like fighting amongst themselves just to keep their hand in, and this is no different. They’ve had peace for a long, long time, and suddenly they are quite literally destroying the kingdom from within and that’s what makes it so interesting, so I would expect more of that – more division, more taking sides.
‘I think it’ll ramp up in terms of the action and I think it will move out of just the locations that we’ve been in up until now. I think season one was a much more domestic experience whereas this one will be much more fractured, and possibly move a little more into the world that people are familiar with, with Game Of Thrones, where there were multiple storylines existing at one time.
‘But who knows? But I would imagine that’s what it would be. And more dragons! A few will have been born by the time the show comes out again. And they grow very quickly…’
While the book that House of the Dragon is based on sees Ser Harrold die before King Viserys, in the series, Graham and his character have been spared (so far), with Ser Harrold leaving his post as Commander of the Kingsguard.
‘He lives! Ser Harrold lives on. I love the fact that, what happened there, with his decision to walk out like that, is it really established a sense…in a world like House of the Dragon, and a little bit the same in Game Of Thrones, a lot of people are working for their own agendas,’ he pointed out.
‘They have these long-term plots essentially, that they bring to fruition, overthrowing the court or killing somebody, or superseding the line of succession or whatever it is. Ser Harrold, almost uniquely, doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have an agenda. His view – well, he’s an honourable view in a place that is almost singularly lacking in honour and decency.’
House of the Dragon has been widely praised, with some even claiming that it’s saved the legacy of the original series following a very divisive final season.
But following on from such success is always going to be daunting.
‘It’s a double edged thing because you have the strength of the previous series, which is obviously hugely popular, and has a massive fanbase, a huge expectation – but that expectation puts pressure on you too,’ Graham explained.
‘It’s a little bit like when we did The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings had come out, you’re capitalising on that popularity but also you have to park that to one side, because otherwise you’re constantly second guessing yourself.
‘As Peter Jackson said to me once, you have to make films and television programmes for yourself. What you want to make. And if people like it, great. But don’t make it worrying about what they’re going to say.
‘And I think that’s really good advice because it keeps a sense of artistic purity and I think that comes through in the writing, when a writer is committed to an idea and a way of trying to tell a story, that shows, rather than pandering to focus groups and that kind of thing.’
House of the Dragon’s success doesn’t mean it’s been without its criticism, though. Recently, some argued that the final episode, which graphically shows Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), giving birth to a stillborn baby, should have included a specific trigger warning.
Graham reflected: ‘I’m quite old-fashioned, I don’t need things to be graphic, but at the same time, the way things have changed over the years in terms of audience expectations, what audiences are used to now, the kinds of things I used to see when I was growing up…Nowadays, it’s just routine for teenagers to see this sort of thing.
‘It’s tricky – I think the guiding principle should be whether it serves the story. Whether it’s telling the story in the way you want it to be told. And i think in this case, that is indeed true, and without it, you’re somewhat cheating the audience of the truth of the story.’
House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season is available now to buy on Digital Download and pre-order on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD for December 19.
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