"That's good." Jon felt fifteen years old again. Little sister. He rose and donned his cloak."- DWD.

Unless im wrong dance takes place in 299 ac and jon was born 283, so he is 16 at this point.

I mean I get that he is reminscing about being at Winterfell with Arya, etc but still its a bit funny

Ser Harrold Westerling, a character who has been portrayed by the Scottish actor Graham McTavish in Season 1 of the show, despite not reappearing during the entirety of Season 2 appears to be finally making a comeback to Westeros — in the upcoming third season of House of the Dragon.

On HBO's official guide for HOTD's characters this is what is says about Harrold Westerling:

"When the Green Council moved to usurp the Iron Throne, Westerling refused to follow Otto's orders out of loyalty to Viserys and Rhaenyra."

And, rather reasonably, what is of even greater importance is that which is written on that same guide under the details on Criston Cole's character:

"When the Hightowers moved to place Aegon on the Iron Throne and Ser Harrold defected, Cole was named Lord Commander."

Now unto the interviews... and the first one in which Graham was specifically asked about his potential return to House of the Dragon after its first season was for TVLine on November 11, 2022:

"As you said, I don’t know where it’s all going, all the rest of it. But I mean, the possibilities are there for any number of scenarios at the moment."

In a different interview, Graham had spoke for "Digital Journal" on December 8, 2023, and said the following about his character in "House of the Dragon":

"Ser Harrold's only interest is in serving the king, or his successor, and serving the kingdom, that's it."

The only way that Graham including "or his (Viserys') successor" in his statement for the DIgital Journal can make sense is if he's both returning to House of the Dragon and choosing Rhaenyra over Aegon since he did say the following in another interview he had done for Dragoncast (published on YouTube) when asked about the Greens' coup at King's Landing:

"It's been enormously painful for him (Harrold), but I don't think mentally he would have hesitated for a minute — there was no choice as far as he was concerned, and this was a line that they (Greens) had crossed that was completely unpardonable, and he couldn't in good conscience be a part of it..."

Harrold being unquestionably loyal to both Viserys *and* Rhaenyra has already been established on the show by the end of its first season, and that was also very clearly reaffirmed on HBO's character guide itself for HOTD.

And since we're back to that guide again... I have to note that Harrold Westerling "defecting" after the intention of the Green Council to place Aegon on the throne has been made known to him, quite literally translates to Harrold going over to the other side in this conflict, which in this particular case is Rhaenyra’s side (the Blacks).

Now, most recently, Winter Is Coming is reporting that the actor Graham McTavish in his interview for The Nerd Shepard, that's been published on November 24, 2024, said the following about House of the Dragon:

"I believe season three will start filming in March next year,"

And as Winter Is Coming rightly pointed out, why would McTavish even care to announce when House of the Dragon's third season will start filming if he himself isn't a part of it...

Also, HBO has yet to officially confirm the start of filming for Season 3, which means that Graham being able to personally confirm such information is not something he would know unless he were part of the Season 3 cast. And this can realistically only imply that the actor is in fact returning to House of the Dragon after being absent during its second season.

So, why we didn't see him at all during the entirety of Season 2, well there are two main reasons:

The first one being that Harrold almost certainly journeyed to the other side of Westeros in order to see his brother and the Lord of the Crag, Roland Westerling.

And a piece of evidence that would undoubtedly support such a conclusion is a War Map that's been displayed in the Small Council chamber during the entirety of Season 2 (which have any major time jumps, unlike S1), and on that map it can be seen that the Crag, which is the seat of the Westerlings, has been labeled by the Greens as a supporter of Rhaenyra's side, the Blacks.

This is enough to make Harrold's absence from a shortened Season 2 justifiable, especially when we consider that it does in fact make a lot of sense for his character to first want to make sure, after witnessing the unthinkable happen in King's Landing, that his own kin are going to support the same side he himself is already loyal to.

The second reason is fairly straightforward — Ryan and his writing team likely wanted to create a strong parallel between Ser Harrold and Ser Barristan Selmy from "Game of Thrones".

Both Ser Barristan and Ser Harrold are portrayed as honorable and upright men, being dismissed by, or leaving because of, a particular side they came to consider as unjust and unworthy, or treasonous and dishonorable.

And both of them end up defecting and going to an opposing side.

Harrold is coming back, but only after he's been absent for a whole season. So, it comes as no surprise that the path for his return in S3 appears to have been already cleared by the writers:

Both Ser Erryk Cargyll (an ordinary/lesser ranking member of the Queensguard) and Ser Steffon Darklyn (Lord Commander) perished by the end of Season 2 leaving Rhaenyra with only Ser Lorent Marbrand as the sole member of her Queensguard.

These losses greatly weakened an already undermanned Queensguard, and therefore left Rhaenyra in dire need for more knights who are both suitable and willing to serve and protect her as members of the Queensguard.

Quite naturally, Harrold Westerling is the first one that comes to mind, and he may also be the most suited man for the role, since he was both Rhaenyra's sworn protector of old, and the last truly undisputed Lord Commander (before the Civil War officially broke out) whose respect throughout the Realm most likely extends far beyond that of Criston Cole.

In any case, after all, and with everything pointing out at the same conclusion, it is safe to say that Graham McTavish will be back to portray this character in Season 3, and that we will see Ser Harrold become once again the Lord Commander, only this time under Rhaenyra as Queen and possibly after she takes King’s Landing.

Source(s):

HBO character guide for Harrold Westerling and Criston Cole;

https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#harrold-westerling

https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/character-guide#criston-cole

Graham's interviews for TVLine, Digital Journal, Dragoncast (on YT), and The Nerd Shepard (reported in English by Winter Is Coming);

https://tvline.com/interviews/house-of-the-dragon-ser-harrold-westerling-alive-dead-season-1-graham-mctavish-interview-1234892069/

https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/interview-the-many-hats-of-graham-mctavish/article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MJxpabAmlI

https://thenerdshepherd.com/films/exclusief-graham-mctavish-deelt-details-over-the-witcher-n-seizoen-3-van-house-of-the-dragon

https://winteriscoming.net/it-sounds-like-graham-mctavish-will-return-for-house-of-the-dragon-season-3-01jdpzayhfsa

Atreides… fookin kneelers

It may very well be maestover

Oldtown by Doug Wheatley Cthulu by Andrée Wallin

Talk about a tongue twister. I think myself an observant viewer and even I struggled to keep all these properly matched.

History extends for centuries, yet most of the Great Houses stay the same (granted with some changes). It is just because...well because? That is certainly not how real history works.

Ok, this is too nerdy. A good shit post is warranted.

I just can’t wrap my head around why everyone glazes Robert. Sending Robin to be fostered under Tywin, naming Jaime as Warden of the east, and doing nothing when his best friend was attacked by Jaime. Why??

Also what's with the dornish hate? What does the fandom hate them?

This is a Monthly Free Talk thread. Feel free to discuss whatever you like!

You have completed Game of Thrones, and probably rewatched it multiple times, what do you like to watch now instead?

Bonus points to anyone who mentions a show with a similar feel but I will accept any alternatives.

He doesn't deserve to be called Bran the Broken. In my head he's always Bran the Useless.

Now, I am Stannis's PREMIER dick rider, I would follow that man to hell. But one thing I noticed as I skimmed through the series again is that pre-blackwater Stannis (and really pre-Davos returning Stannis too) is him at his absolute worst.

At that point in the story, he embodies literally every negative trait that others say about him and proves them all correct. He does still have his virtues, his commitment to duty and fairness in law, but They are basically hidden underneath a zealous idea that he should be king simply because that is his right. This causes him issues because this mindset (alongside his own inferiority complex) causes him to not seek alliances or make agreements. To him at this stage everyone should just follow him because he says so. Even after he kills Renly (which he does regret), most of Renly's army refuses to join him and just go home because of this.

It is after Blackwater that Stannis is humbled. He loses. Badly. Enough that he's all but out of the running now, At first, he is at risk of getting even worse. He wasn't fully onboard with the R'hllor stuff pre-Blackwater but he was close to falling completely into it afterwards. He went from his highest point to his lowest point, but he was also in a state of personal flux. His old beliefs and tactics weren't working so he needed new options. When Davos showed back up and he was convinced to keep him on, I think this was when Stannis finally starts to change for the better. And the thing is he doesn't actually change that much, but changes JUST in the right ways to make him a better person.

For one, he is now much more willing to "bend" as it were. We all remember Donal Noye's assessment of the Baratheon brothers, and how incorrect they seemed. However, I would argue that they were completely on point... the last time he had seen them. Robert broke after Lyanna, Renly grew into an accomplished politician and leader, and Stannis finally realized that there are times when he can't just stand firm, he has to give. He pardons certain lords and others for crimes they committed without retribution, while still ensuring that justice is as fairly metted out as he can. He breaks with some ideas of duty by giving Davos position of hand with the implication that anyone that takes issue can quite literally just suck it the fuck up.

For another, I think he starts appreciating the loyalty of his remaining men and court much more. Davos being the most obvious example but I think he started to realize just how important people like Davos are to him, those willing to stick it out with him even when it looked like everything was falling apart.

And for a final thing, and probably the most important. Blackwater and most of his army abandoning him afterwards finally convinced him that he can't just expect the throne to be given to him. He has to both fight for it and demonstrate why HE, no one else, should be the one to sit on it. The famous "I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne." quote best exemplifies this. He has come to understand he has to act like a king in all aspects to convince people he should be king.

Bought this when season 6 came out. At the time I had a lot of regret, because I thought: oh no, there will be a few more seasons and I bought a Box in the middle kind of,, I'm so stupid.

But after what happened to season 7 and 8 I couldn't have been happier xD IF I every rewatch GoT, then it would be only till season 6... but I can't even bring myself to watch this garbage again, even after rewatching it time and time again until it got so bad I couldn't anymore.

Nontheless, I don't regret it anymore that I bought this...back then I still loved the series, I have some fond memories. Does anyone else feel as I feel, at first regret then kind of ok? :)

And btw: If I wouldn't have bought this shit back in the day when I still liked the series, I wouldn't have bought it at all. So it's just some sort of coping I guess xD

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