‘House of the Dragon’ casts Tom Taylor

A popular figure from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood history of the Targaryen Empire is arriving in House of the Dragon season 2.

With the drop of the first trailer for the next batch of eight episodes, HBO confirmed that Tom Taylor, who starred opposite Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in 2017’s The Dark Tower, will play Lord Cregan Stark, the current Lord of Winterfell in the timeline of House of the Dragon.

The season 1 finale signaled Cregan’s arrival on the Game of Thrones prequel, which tracks the events of the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. While Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) reluctantly sent her son Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) to Storm’s End (and inadvertently to his grave), she also sent another of her children, Jaecerys (Harry Collett), north to drum up support at Winterfell, the ancestral home of House Stark. And sitting in the Winterfell seat of power at this time is Cregan.

Martin’s book purposely leaves conflicting reports about what transpired between Jaecerys, Cregan, and some other folks at Winterfell. So, this will mark another moment for the series adaptation to set the record straight.

Taylor’s involvement comes as part of a batch of new casting for House of the Dragon season 2. Also confirmed are Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne. Many of these characters play important parts in the events to come.

According to Fire & Blood, Addam is the brother of Alyn of Hull (played by previously announced cast member Abubakar Salim). The season 1 finale of the show teased the idea that Rhaenyra’s forces will be gathering more dragons to fight for their side, which means they will need riders to mount them. A moment in the House of the Dragon season 2 trailer seems to show Addam gazing up in awe as the drake Seasmoke takes flight, which is a major clue.

Other men who take up the call to ride dragons in the book include Hugh (a.k.a. “Hugh the Hammer”) and Ulf (a.k.a. Ulf White). Meanwhile, Ser Alfred Broome is a senior knight at Dragonstone, and Ser Rickard Thorne is a knight on the side of the Greens and Aegon I Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney).

The six actors join previously revealed newcomers, which includes Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, and Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong. Of course, the returning players are D’Arcy, Glynn-Carney, Collett, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Sonoya Mizuno, Rhys Ifans, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.

House of the Dragon season 2 will premiere on HBO sometime next summer. Watch the first trailer, and check back Sunday when EW’s Game of Thrones podcast West of Westeros breaks down the secrets of the new footage.

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