The important absence of the confirmed cast of season 2 of ‘The House of the Dragon’

The announcement that season 2 of ‘The House of the Dragon’ has started filming has reached us this week, and with it a list of the cast that will return in the spin-off of ‘Game of Thrones’. And the truth is that, if we remove those who can no longer be there because they kicked the bucket in season 1 of ‘The House of the Dragon’, they all return. Or, rather, almost all of them, because fans have noticed a major absence of a character who was present throughout the first season: Ser Harrold Westerling (Graham McTavish)..

Ser Harrold Westerling was not a main character during the first season of the series based on ‘Game of Thrones’, but he played a key role at the end of it. In episode 1×09 of ‘The House of the Dragon’, in the middle of the plot to crown Aegon Targaryen, Otto Hightower ordered the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard to take his knights to Dragonstone and assassinate Princess Rhaenyra.. But, out of a sense of duty to the late King Viserys, Ser Harrold refused to follow the order.dramatically surrendering his white cloak.

That was the last time we saw Ser Harrold in the ‘House of the Dragon’, but it might not be the last time we see him in the HBO series. It is important to note that we never saw his body nor was it implied that he was murdered, which means that he is presumably alive somewhere and probably aware of events in Westeros. Given his loyalty to Viserys and, by extension, Rhaenyra, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ser Harrold Westerling resurface at a key moment somewhere in the future, perhaps in a later season of the series.

In an interview last year with TVLinethe Ser Harrold actor vaguely addressed his own (possible) future on the show, saying “any scenario” could happen. McTavish, who will be seen reprising the role of Dougal MacKenzie in season 7 of ‘Outlander’, he reflected saying that “All his life, Harrold had focused on his devotion to that family, and really to Rhaenyra in particular. He has known her literally since she was born, so It was a very, very difficult moment for him, but also one in which he did not hesitate in the end.”, he said at the time.

“When he left,” the actor continued, “in my mind, I pictured him striding out, mounting his horse, heading out of town and taking some time to relax, to think, you know,’What am I going to do now?’ Cause I don’t think I have a plan. I don’t think Harrold would go home at night with an exit strategy if things went wrong. He would never have imagined that happening.”

With other characters we can venture their future following the example of George RR Martin’s books, but in the case of Ser Harrold it is impossible. In ‘Fire and Blood’, the character is dead long before the Dance with Dragons begins.. Ser Harrold has already been much more involved in the House of the Dragon series than he ever was in Martin’s original literary universe. And this could be a clue that the creators of the series have something in mind for him in the future..