HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was a glaringly white show. Save for Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), no characters of color made it to the final season of the show, and even then those two were underutilized and eventually discarded. It seemed that “House of the Dragon” was trying to rectify this mistake — and usher in a new age of Black characters in fantasy — with the casting of Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, the patriarch of the richest house in Westeros.
Corlys and his two children, Laena (Nanna Blondell) and Laenor (John Macmillan), appear throughout the series, but by the time of their second aging up, it was clear that they were still going to be side characters. That was fine and dandy, but when Episode 6 rolled around, both of the siblings were killed (in Laenor’s case, he faked his own death, but disappears from the show anyway) leaving “House of the Dragon” with only three Black characters: Corlys and his two granddaughters, Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell).
The problem is, the two women are never given any lines after they’re aged up in Episode 8. They are constantly framed in the background with Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) oldest children, Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault) and Jacaerys Velaryon (Harry Collett), but unlike the boys, the girls are not given any room to speak or make any notable moves. This shunning of the two characters not only felt like a slap in the face to book fans who love Baela and Rhaena, but to Black fans of George R.R. Martin’s work who were finally able to see themselves in these adaptations.
However, with the second episode of Season 2, it became clear that maybe the showrunners realized their mistake, leaving them desperate to reconcile with the show’s disregard of the majority of its Black characters and alienating its Black viewers. They started at the core of this problem and brought Baela and Rhaena to prominence, like they should have been from the beginning.
Baela has a fully formed personality in Season 2, one that surpasses the one her late mother was given. We’re able to see her fierceness on dragon-back, chasing down the now-hated Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel), as well as her tumultuous relationship with her absent father. While she’s not allotted as much screen time as the teenagers on Team Green’s side, it’s still a step up from Season 1. By giving Baela more to do, the writers have also allowed Bethany Antonia to showcase her prowess as an actor. From steely eyed glares at her stepmother’s councilmen to her tenderhearted relationship with Jacaerys, Baela has not only become a formidable ally on Team Black, but one of this season’s standout characters.
Her sister, Rhaena, is also given more screen time this season. In Season 1, all we know about Rhaena is that she’s been betrothed to Lucerys Velaryon, and most important, she’s the only Targaryen on Team Black without a dragon. In Season 2, this directly causes her to be sent away to the Vale with her youngest stepsiblings, caring for them in the midst of war, away from the rest of their family. She takes this decision in stride, but makes it apparent to her stepmother that she neither agrees with this choice nor will sit back without making her qualms known.
As the season progresses, we watch as Rhaena struggles with taking a backseat in the war. However, with the revelation of a wild dragon in the Vale, it appears that she may become more involved in the war than her character was in the book. In Episode 7, as Rhaenyra’s toddlers move to be sheltered in Pentos, Rhaena takes off on her own in pursuit of this mysterious dragon. While she hasn’t claimed it yet, her arc of finally choosing a dragon has been set up, and it’s apparent that her determination won’t be stifled.
Writers Ryan Condal and Sara Hess have finally given these two women the depth that they were devoid of in Season 1, and while it’s late in the game, the fact that it actually happened is something to be grateful for. Baela and Rhaena’s prominence is a welcome change from the shadows they were relegated to in Season 1, and it’s clear that these two women will not only be formidable allies to Rhaenyra’s cause but will continue to grow as characters as the series progresses. With the writers crafting these characters with care, the two of them are shaping up to be some of the series’ most interesting and most impactful.
Along with Baela and Rhaena’s storylines growing, Season 2 perfectly introduced Addam and Alyn of Hull. After a few episodes dropped hints that Alyn(Abubakar Salim) — the sailor who pulled Corlys from the water during the Stepstones campaign — and his brother, Addam (Clinton Liberty), are the illegitimate sons of the Sea Snake, Episode 6 confirmed their Velaryon heritage. It’s clear from the start that the two are related to Corlys Velaryron; he and Alyn share a likeness that’s impossible to ignore and Addam’s disposition is one he shares with his long-lost cousins.
Following Team Black’s failed attempt to have Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan) claim Seasmoke, the dragon flew from Dragonstone to Spice Town as a means to find his own rider. It’s here that he and Addam meet face-to-face, the dragon circling overhead before pursuing him in a tense chase. It’s one of the most fascinating scenes in “House of the Dragon” to date: watching Seasmoke circle Addam like a stray cat circling the person it wants to be its new owner. It proves Addam’s importance in the story, allowing us to watch Seasmoke claim him rather than Addam try to claim the dragon.
In a world like the one “House of the Dragon” is set in, it’s hard to find characters that are truly pure. When Rhaenyra confronts Addam in Episode 7, it’s only after a few shared sentences that he gets on one knee and swears his fealty to her. With a powerful dragon on his side, Addam could do whatever he wants, yet instead he immediately devotes himself and Seasmoke to Rhaenyra’s cause, with no promises on her end.
Though Addam and Alyn are both important to the story, in Martin’s novel “Fire & Blood” they’re definitely background characters. On “House of the Dragon,” it seems, the writers will be giving them more to do and more prominence on-screen. It’s a great change from, say, Laena, whose friendship with Rhaenyra in “Fire & Blood” was sidelined for her on-screen friendship with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Instead of simply dropping the two men into the story, Condal and Hess do a great job slowly integrating them into the big ensemble cast.
It’s a wonderful adaptation choice, allowing the two men to become characters with personalities before their true connection to Corlys is revealed, and it’s a grace that other Black characters in the show were not rewarded. Here, the two are given more depth in their introductory season than Corlys’ trueborn children, Laena and Laenor, were given in Season 1. While I can’t help but feel sad about losing the previous two characters to shoddy writing, I can commend the show for how these two new faces are being showcased.
In Episode 7, when Rhaenyra ushers the dragonseeds into the dragonpit, it’s Addam and Baela at her side rather than son Jacaerys or her queensguard. They flank both of her sides as if the two of them are her sole strength and consolation. Despite them both being young, It’s clear that she values them as much as she does the older knights in her company, bringing the two up as if they are her second and third in common. Along with them, earlier in the episode, Alyn is sent to King’s Landing to recruit the dragonseeds. With Episode 7, it’s clear that these three will continue to be some of Rhaenyra’s most important allies, and it’s a step up from the time even their book counterparts were allotted.
While the Black characters in Season 1 were unbelievably underutilized before being discarded, the way Condal and Hess are handling Alyn and Addam is a welcomed change, and makes it apparent that along with Baela and Rhaena, these characters have been given more thought than in Season 1.
From Laena’s ghost haunting Daemon in Harrenhal to her daughter Baela sitting upon Rhaenyra’s council, the Black characters in “House of the Dragon” have been given some life and purpose in the show.
No longer are they simply there to make the writers pat themselves on the back; they’re there to showcase what fantasy can look like when its Black characters are given the proper care and justice they deserve.
