What The House Of The Dragon Cast Should Really Look Like

"House of the Dragon's" King Viserys (played by Paddy Considine) is a sympathetic but somewhat feckless man who, it seems, might not be as well-suited to rule as was his grandfather, King Jaehaerys. He looks weary but generally healthy, except for those pesky lacerations he sustains from sitting the Iron Throne ... the ones that, ominously, won't heal. This Viserys is in middle age and of average height and build. He's got long silvery hair and the scruffy beard of a king who isn't trying too hard to impress anybody. He wears a crown of gold and silver embossed with the Targaryen crest, and he gets a bit more dressed up for tournaments, which he enjoys planning, though not as much as he loves fiddling with his enormous model of Valyria. 

While the show's Viserys is sort of a sad sack borderline beta male, "Fire & Blood's" is — like the Santa Claus of King's Landing — a rotund, jolly party king. When he ascended to the throne at age 26, he chose to wear Jaehaerys' gold crown beset with seven gemstones, each of a different color. He sported a bushy silvery gold mustache, started out pleasantly plump, and got softer and plumper throughout his reign. This Viserys really liked tourneys, feasts, balls, and any other occasion to celebrate, and the people really liked him in return because he kept the wine flowing and the entertainment going. Overindulgence caused Viserys to suffer from gout, chest pain, and other health problems that plagued him for the rest of his life. Martin describes him as "extremely fat," "red of face," and unable to walk up stairs. 

In both the book and the show, young Princess Rhaenyra is proclaimed "the Realm's Delight." In "Fire & Blood," we first hear about her at the age of six, when she's described as "precocious," "bright," "beautiful," and "bold." She starts serving as her father's cupbearer around the age of eight, and she enjoys a close (perhaps too close) relationship with her uncle Daemon, who assures her that she's the "fairest maid in all the Seven Kingdoms." She wears her silver-gold hair in braids, prefers expensive fabrics like lace and velvet in shades of red, purple, and black, and wears a lot of jewelry. Pearls, diamonds, and rings are some of her favorites. Book Rhaenyra was shapely before motherhood, but never lost the weight she'd put on during pregnancy after childbirth. Martin calls her "stout" and "thick of waist," and says her "beauty faded by age 20." 

After a brief prologue, "House of the Dragon" opens with a shot of a teenage Rhaenyra riding her dragon, Syrax, through the skies above King's Landing. The Princess of Dragonstone is an accomplished dragonrider in the books as well. It appears that production designers are using costumes — particularly colors — to convey meaning as the maturity, intentions, and allegiances of the characters. Perhaps that's why young Rhaenyra (as played by Millie Alcock) often wears pastels and uncomplicated hairstyles now. After a time jump, she's played by Emma D'Arcy, who is decked out in reds and blacks and layers of jewels, with her hair in sophisticated plaits. "House of the Dragon's" derision about Rhaenyra's size aside, D'Arcy looks physically and mentally sharp as adult Rhaenyra. 

"Fire & Blood" doesn't really tell us anything about what Ser Otto Hightower looked like. It's said that some of the Hightowers had silvery gold hair similar to Valyrian families like the Targaryens and Velaryons. But they're one of the old money houses of Westeros' Seven Kingdoms, where their family seat in Oldtown gives them access to the Citadel's library and influence over the Faith of the Seven, whose Starry Sept can also be found there. As one might expect from this Littlefinger-like ladder climber, the inner workings of his mind are of more consequence to Martin than is the face that tries to hide those schemes and plots. Otto is described as "able," "proud," and "haughty." Depending on the side with which they ally themselves, other characters either see him as learned, methodical, and blunt or as someone not to be trusted whose only goal is ever to rise above his current station.   

Rhys Ifans perfectly executes Otto's subtle treachery. His even temperament comes off favorably against his rival Prince Daemon Targaryen's impulsivity. His careful word choice is evidence of his intelligence and his self-interest. We can't know for sure if Daemon actually says or does the things that the Hand of the King accuses him of. And when he tells Viserys that he does not envy him for having to marry again out of duty, it's a sly way for the King's advisor to propose instead that he marry his own daughter for love. Otto is also less flashy in his choice of dress than fellow small council member Corlys Velaryon, who — in the book and on the show — has recently surpassed him in terms of wealth. 

The appearance of Princess Rhaeyns Targaryen, the Queen Who Never Was, varies even within Martin's writing. In "Fire & Blood," she's described as a great beauty who had black hair and pale purple eyes, since she bore the traits of both her Baratheon mother and her Targaryen father. She had a thin body and face into her old age, but her raven locks became streaked with white in her later years. Rhaenys was something of a wild child. She usually wore her hair down, preferring it to hang loose and fly in the wind as she rode her dragon, Meleys. Other characters note that she was "spirited" and had a "fiery temperament." 

However, in Martin's 2013 novella, "The Princess and the Queen," which was later expanded into "Fire & Blood," Rhaenys is described as having the typical silvery-gold hair of a Targaryen. In both instances, however, Rhaenys is younger than she's portrayed in the series "House of the Dragon." She's 16 when she marries Corlys Velaryon, who is then in his late thirties. Eve Best and Steve Toussaint play the characters more like contemporaries on the show, and the actors themselves are only six years apart in age. So far, Best's hair has also been done up in some gravity defying feats of follicle architecture, which isn't consistent with how this formidable princess would've fashioned it herself. Book Rhaenys also sported coppery armor just as often as jacquard dresses. 

Corlys and Rhaenys have two children, the younger of whom (in the books; it's the opposite in the show) is Laenor Velaryon. It's Laenor and not Rhaenys who is the other candidate for the crown at the Great Council of 101 AC, when he's only seven years old. Though he obviously doesn't become king, he remains of interest because, as a former claimant, he'll make someone a good husband ... in theory. He also comes with his own dragon, an undersized but agile silvery-gray creature named Seasmoke, who we see blazing into the battlefield in Episode 3. 

Laenor is talked about in "Fire & Blood" as if he is attractive. Martin says he has an "aquiline nose," "silver-white hair," and "purple eyes" (again, no skin color is mentioned). But he's not known for being stereotypically masculine. His sister Laena is described as being "almost as pretty as her brother." While the features of the other Velaryons aren't necessarily important plot points, Laenor's physical attributes do become a pivotal part of the story going forward. In the book's version, he's too young to participate in the War for the Stepstones and is still hesitant about riding Seasmoke, though he's still three years older than the woman to whom he'll eventually become betrothed, Rhaenyra.

That would make Laena about five years older than the Princess, rather than three years her junior, as it is in "House of the Dragon." Odds are their birth order was reversed to give Laenor a larger role and a reason to ride his dragon. Onscreen, we'll see different actors play Laenor in his youth (Theo Tate) and young adulthood (John Macmillan).

One of the consistent complaints that's been directed at "House of the Dragon" is the portrayal of the woman with whom Prince Daemon is smitten, Mysaria. Specifically, that criticism has had to do with the accent that actress Sonoya Mizuno has been asked to affect. The distractingly thick dialect is a show invention. 

In both the text and the show, Mysaria is an exotic dancer and sex worker from the city of Lys who becomes Prince Daemon's mistress and confidant. In print, she is also known by the nicknames Lady Misery and the White Worm. That's because her hard life has hardened her outward appearance, which is described as "milky white." One could surmise from those adjectives that Daemon finds her attractive in the same way he might find a Targaryen attractive ... something that is alluded to when Mysaria offers to bring in another woman during their Episode 1 tryst. 

Book Mysaria is said to wear a hooded cloak of black velvet and "blood-red silk." Though she's "lithe" and "lissome" in her younger days, Martin (who seems sometimes too preoccupied with the waist measurements of his female characters) writes that she thickens in older age. "House of the Dragon's" Lady Misery has black hair and a warmer skin tone, and (two episodes in) wears a cloak of white, though that may change. It should be noted that in "Fire & Blood," she is actually pregnant when Daemon steals the dragon egg intended for their baby's crib.