The end of ‘The House of the Dragon’ has a crazy nod to The Muppets (The Muppets)

SPOILERS FOR ‘THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’

As the credits roll for the debut of ‘House of the Dragon’, it appears that the curse of ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 has truly been lifted. With George RR Martin saying he envisions four 10-episode seasons to fully tell the story of the Greens and the Blacksthere is much more death and destruction to come as we take flight for the Dance of the Dragons.

Although the time period – some 172 years before the Mad King and Daenerys Targaryen – means we’re pretty limited with characters, mentions of great Houses like the Starks, Lannisters and Baratheons connect this spin-off with its older brother.

While the ending put the pieces in place for House of the Dragon Season 2, a seemingly throwaway line also suggested we’re getting a weird tie-in with the Muppets.

You read right: Jim Henson’s puppets are coming to Westeros. About.

The first season finale of ‘House of the Dragon,’ ‘The Black Queen,’ had Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) ready for war, trying to rally various Houses to the cause. Although the likes of the Lannisters are definitely Green, others, including Houses Baratheon, Stark, and Tully, could go either way. While Lucerys leaves to see Borros Baratheon in Storm’s End, Jacaerys goes to parley with Cregan Stark and Daemon (Matt Smith) departs to meet Lord Grover Tully.

A reference to the furry blue Muppet Coco (Grover in the US) would suffice (and easily dismissed as a coincidence), but in the source material, Lord Grover has a grandson named Elmo. And further expanding the influence of Jim Henson’s study, Elmo’s children are called Oscar (The Grouch?) and Kermit (as Kermit the Frog in the US).

Also, the ‘Blood and Fire’ story of the Targaryens says that Kermit is “‘green as summer grass‘, as the Northmen would say.” On the other hand, Oscar is “cursed with the kind of prickly pride so common in second sons,” though we’re guessing he doesn’t live in a dump.

Martin may not have expected ‘Fire and Blood’ to become a live-action show, but now it’s increasingly likely that one of his dumbest inside jokes takes place in the second season of ‘The House of the Dragon’.

This is not the first time the Muppets have “appeared”, with episode six featuring the first mention of Grover (Coco), when Ser Lyonel Strong discussed the war between the Blackwood and Bracken houses in the Riverlands.

When Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) asked why Grover wasn’t running it, Strong said his son was unofficially ruling there. After the episode, Grover (the Muppet) tweeted and said, “Would someone be so kind as to point me in the direction of these Riverlands you speak of? It seems that I have been neglecting my duties. #HouseOfTheDragon.”

This isn’t the first time the Muppets have connected to the GoT universe. In a 2015 Sesame Street parody titled ‘Game of Chairs,’ we got puppet versions of Cersei, Tyrion and Daenerys.

In 2019, Elmo stopped to try to broker peace between Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage in another ‘Sesame Street’ crossover. Martin is a master of deception with names, and if Ser Tallad is known for not being tall enough, what about Harry Sawyer and Robin Potter fighting over Brienne of Tarth, with the latter left with a scar from the incident?

There are other more subtle ones: Wun Wun the Giant is named after the New York Giants NFL quarterback, famous for his number 11 (meaning “one one”). Surely it’s only a matter of time before Martin invents Ser Homer of Springfield Motte and his wife Margaery.

As long as we don’t get another time jump, the next batch of episodes will likely open with Daemon and Jace trying to recruit for the Blacks as word of the finale’s surprise death spreads across the Seven Kingdoms.

There is already talk of who will play Cregan Stark, so let the fan casting for the Tullys begin. Don’t expect to see much of Grover.and if we follow the books, the old patriarch will die of a stroke when he tries to ally himself with the Green Team, but Elmo promises the house to the Blacks.

Obviously, you’ll remember that House Tully was a big deal in ‘Game of Thrones,’ with Brynden ‘The Blackfish’ Tully (Clive Russell) laying siege to Riverrun, Edmure Tully being the butt of everyone’s jokes, and Catelyn Stark ( Michelle Fairley) being born Tully.

In ‘Fire and Blood,’ Martin made the effort to name Grover’s grandson and great-grandsons, but never named his children. If ‘The House of the Dragon’ really wants to lean on the joke, the second season it’s the perfect time to name them Fozzie and Gonzo. Nope? Epi and Blas? Being Animal Tully might be a step too far.

With ‘Game of Thrones’ swapping names like Asha Greyjoy and Robert Arryn for Yara and Robin to avoid confusion with existing characters, don’t bet on Elmo, Kermit or Oscar just yet. Even so, in a series where we have multiple Aegons and Viseryses, naming characters after Muppets isn’t a big deal.