Following up HBO’s phenomenal hit Game of Thrones was a gargantuan feat, but somehow House of the Dragon managed to do it. The prequel series walked a fine line between paying homage to the original show and doing its own thing. Whereas Thrones told the tale of a conflict between Lannister, Stark, Baratheon, Tyrell, Tully and more, Dragon homes in on the Targaryens and their closest allies (or enemies, depending on where you stand): the Velaryons, Hightowers, and Strongs.
That’s not to say that the houses from the original show never crop up, though. Members of Houses Stark, Baratheon, and Lannister all appeared at different points in House of the Dragon’s first season. The Lannisters might have been the most memorable. Represented by twin brothers Lord Jason and Tyland (both played by Jefferson Hall), the Lannisters of Casterly Rock are as opinionated in this era as they will be a couple hundred years out. Of course, they support the greens against Rhaenyra.
As it turns out, OG Lannister Nikolaj Coster-Waldau caught a glimpse of these new Lannister twins, and had a pretty funny reaction to it. Coster-Waldau played Ser Jaime Lannister in all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, so if anyone knows the ins and outs of this complicated family, it’s him.
House of the Dragon episode 3
Niolaj Coster-Waldau amused by “very smug” Lannisters on House of the Dragon
Coster-Waldau hasn’t actually had the time to sit down and watch House of the Dragon quite yet (though he says he’s “sure” he will “at some point”), but one part of the show he has seen is a few clips of Lannister characters Jason and Tyland. “I didn’t think there would be any Lannisters, but suddenly, I just saw a clip with a Lannister, who seemed very smug,” Coster-Waldau told Metro.co.uk while promoting his new podcast drama Radioman. He admitted to finding the smug Lord of Casterly Rock “annoying.”
And then he also had a twin and I was like, oh my god, they have Lannister twins as well! They have the whole package.
Jaime Lannister was at the center of a lot of drama in Game of Thrones, largely because of his incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei. At the time of Thrones, that was an enormous scandal. But even without having seen the prequel show, Coster-Waldau is well aware that it probably features plenty more (slightly socially acceptable) incest. “Of course I’m sure there’s also – being Targaryen – a lot of incest going on.’”
Ah Westeros and its double standards. If only Jaime and Cersei had been born Targaryens.
While Coster-Waldau hasn’t seen House of the Dragon yet, he has seen the trailers for the series. He said it felt “very familiar and very different at the same time.”
It looks great. You can see that Miguel [Sapochnik], who directed a lot of the big, big episodes on Game of Thrones is the showrunner on on this one, and you can see they’ve gone for the same aesthetic, if you will.
It is the same world. It is King’s Landing, but of course they’ve twisted it. So I can see that it’s a continuation, or I guess it’s before… but it is the same feel, the same world. And they have a massive budget on blonde wigs.
There can be no doubt that the blonde wig budget is mighty.
House of the Dragon season 1 is streaming now on HBO Max. Season 2 is slated to begin filming in early 2023.
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