There is one piece of advice for whosoever wants to fall in love with the world of Westeros on-screen – do not fall in love with any characters. Why? The answer to that is pretty simple. They all get murdered sooner or later. The original series,Game of Thronesgave us more than our fair share of deaths to our favs. From the beheading of Ned Stark, the debacle at the Red Wedding, and the death of Rickon at the Battle of the Bastards, we had it all. But one stood out however amongst all these moments, the literal explosion of the head of the Red Viper aka Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) at the hands of the Mountain aka Ser Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson).
Ryan Corrwho played Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong in the prequel series,House of the Dragonhas spoken about the similarities between his exit and that of the Viper. Corr while speaking to The A.V. Club’sCindy Whiterecently, revealed that show creator,Ryan Condaldrew a connection between the two characters emphasizing “how [the Viper] was there for a limited amount of time but his presence lingered, long after his death and throughout.” Yep. Whoever watched that offing in real-time will certainly not forget it in a hurry. “Obviously they’re very different characters, but [Condal and co-creator Miguel Sapochnik] saw their impact as being similar,” Corr adds.
Gavin Spokeswho played the Hand of the King, Ser Lyonel Strong, father to Corr’s Harwin is another who was simply put out in brutal Westerosi style. Spokes drew a comparison between his character and our first-ever murdered fav, Ned Stark. “The good die young,” Spokes says. “I mean, Lyonel was not very young, but yes, exactly. We keep up that tradition Ned Stark so beautifully launched for us all.” Remember that warning about loving the characters Westeros offers, yes, Corr agrees that people should be careful to whom they open their hearts. “You’d be very wary of falling in love with characters on [Game Of Thrones] because they were all killed,” Corr warns. “But that was sort of one of the ideas, too. We spoke to Miguel [Sapochnik] and he said, ‘We want to rip their heart out.’”
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WhileHouse of the Dragonhas done a brilliant job of getting minds affixed once more on Westeros and all its scheming. The show has undergone a bit of a shakeup behind the scenes. First,it was the exitofMiguel Sapochnikwho stepped down as co-showrunner and co-creator but will stay on as executive producer. Thencame the exitof executive producer,Jocelyn Diazwho also departs after one season. However, they have both been adequately replaced by capable hands likeGame of Thronesveteran,Alan Taylor.
The first season ofHouse of The Dragonpremiered on July 10, 2025, with new episodes running every Sunday. Check out the trailer for Episode 7 below:
