A silver-haired princess, a tween made a wife to her cousin, and a dreamboat who can really
handle a lance.
All of Westeros came from the pen of George R.R.
Martin, then television gave it a glossy makeover.
House of the Dragon's King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, is a sympathetic but somewhat
feckless man who might not be as well-suited to rule as was his grandfather, King Jaehaerys.
He looks weary but generally healthy, except for those pesky lacerations he sustains from
sitting the Iron Throne.
The ones that, ominously, won't heal.
This Viserys is in middle age and of average height and build.
He's got long silvery hair and the scruffy beard of a king who isn't trying too hard
to impress anybody.
He wears a crown of gold and silver embossed with the Targaryen crest, and he gets a bit
more dressed up for tournaments, which he enjoys planning, though not as much as he
loves fiddling with his enormous model of Valyria.
"It was never my brother's strongest trait."
"What?"
"Being king."
While the show's Viserys is sort of a sad sack borderline beta male, Fire & Blood's
is like the Santa Claus of King's Landing: a rotund, jolly party king.
He sported a bushy silvery gold mustache, started out pleasantly plump, and got softer
and plumper throughout his reign.
Book Viserys really liked tourneys, feasts, balls, and any other occasion to celebrate,
and the people really liked him in return because he kept the wine flowing and the entertainment
going.
Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen is one of the breakout stars of House of the Dragon.
Smith absolutely nails Daemon's demeanor, and he's a close enough physical representation
of what Martin had in mind for the Rogue Prince, who is one of Martin's favorite characters.
Though Fire & Blood burns through its narrative much more quickly than Martin's A Song of
Ice and Fire, the author pauses to make sure we know what Daemon looks and acts like.
We meet him as a "hot-tempered and quarrelsome man of 20."
Later descriptions pepper in terms like "impetuous," "charming," "dashing," "daring," "a renowned
warrior," "dangerous," and "all that his brother was not."
"You're weak, Viserys.
And that council of leeches knows it.
And they all prey on you for their own ends."
The written Daemon is tall and trim, like Smith, and has flowing silver hair, bold armor,
and a gold cloak, just as the costume and makeup departments have styled him.
Book Daemon is, however, portrayed as broader shouldered and more intimidating.
And while Smith is certainly handsome in his own distinctive way, readers' impression of
Prince Daemon's face is that he's so universally perceived as good looking, it's easy to excuse
what Martin has called in interviews "notorious bad boy" behavior.
While some of House of the Dragon's characters will be replaced by new actors as they age
up, Daemon will be played by Matt Smith throughout.
That's in keeping with the books as well, in which Daemon is a man whose personality
and appearance barely change at all throughout the years.
In both the book and the show, young Princess Rhaenyra is proclaimed "the Realm's Delight."
In Fire & Blood, we first hear about her at the age of six, when she's described as "precocious,"
"bright," "beautiful," and "bold."
She starts serving as her father's cupbearer around the age of eight, and she enjoys a
close – perhaps too close – relationship with her uncle Daemon, who assures her that
she's the "fairest maid in all the Seven Kingdoms."
She wears her silver-gold hair in braids and wears a lot of jewelry.
Book Rhaenyra was shapely before motherhood, but never lost the weight she'd put on during
pregnancy.
Martin calls her "stout" and "thick of waist," and says her "beauty faded by age 20."
After a brief prologue, House of the Dragon opens with a shot of a teenage Rhaenyra riding
her dragon, Syrax, through the skies above King's Landing.
"Everyone says that Targaryens are closer to gods than to men, but they say that because
of our dragons."
The Princess of Dragonstone is an accomplished dragonrider in the books as well.
Young Rhaenyra, as played by Millie Alcock, often wears pastels and uncomplicated hairstyles
now.
After a time jump, she's played by Emma D'Arcy [DAR-see], who is decked out in reds and blacks
and layers of jewels.
D'Arcy looks physically and mentally sharp as adult Rhaenyra.
The particulars about Alicent Hightower's physicality haven't been altered much from
the source material.
In both, the daughter of the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, is depicted as traditionally
feminine and exceedingly attractive...
so much so that the king turned his back on a much more politically advantageous marriage
to wed her instead.
"I thought I might come and look in on you, your Grace.
I brought a book."
Martin doesn't get into much detail about her appearance; again, he, or his fictional
narrator, focuses instead on her body type.
Fire & Blood tells us that she was "clever and lovely," "as fertile as she was pretty,"
and that she remained "slender and graceful" even after birthing many children.
What is dramatically different about Alicent, however, is her age and her relationship with
Rhaenyra.
In the book, Alicent comes to court with her father when she's already 15.
At this time, Rhaenyra is only a small child.
The show has aged her down so as to ramp up the drama and make her the princess' best
friend before she becomes her mortal enemy.
Fire & Blood doesn't really tell us what Ser Otto Hightower looked like.
It's said that some of the Hightowers had silvery gold hair similar to Valyrian families
like the Targaryens and Velaryons.
But they're one of the old money houses of Westeros' Seven Kingdoms, where their family
seat in Oldtown gives them access to the Citadel's library.
As one might expect from this Littlefinger-like ladder climber, the inner workings of his
mind are of more consequence to Martin than is the face that hides a multitude of schemes
and plots.
"I've never been one for signs and portents, your Grace, but if the gods did wish to show
their favor…"
Otto is described as "able," "proud," and "haughty."
Rhys Ifans perfectly executes Otto's subtle treachery.
His even temperament comes off favorably against his rival Prince Daemon Targaryen's impulsivity.
His careful word choice is evidence of his intelligence and self-interest.
We can't know for sure if Daemon actually says or does the things that the Hand of the
King accuses him of.
And when he tells Viserys that he does not envy him for having to marry again out of
duty…
"You are the king, but I do not envy you."
… it's a sly way of proposing instead that the King marry his daughter for love.
The Velaryons are one of only three families to have escaped the Doom of Valyria, and they
claim their roots go even farther back than the mighty Targaryens.
While people of Valryian descent have been described throughout Martin's books as having
silvery hair, purple eyes, and pale skin, not all of them do, and Martin doesn't bother
to tell us much about what Corlys looked like.
Martin describes Corlys as "as brilliant as he was restless" and "as adventurous as he
was ambitious."
Corlys — who goes on to become the greatest seafarer ever — is responsible for turning
his house from a minor one aligned with the Targaryens into a major one that competes
for a share of the Throne.
"When I ascended the Driftwood Throne, I knew what I wanted.
So I went out and seized it."
The Velaryons have long served the Targaryens with their ships and as Kingsguards, but Corlys'
enterprising more than doubled his family's fortune, and his marriage to Rhaenys and the
birth of dragon-riding Velaryon children further increased his power.
However, the Velaryons were generally seen as lesser than the Targaryens.
The appearance of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen Who Never Was, varies even within
Martin's writing.
In Fire & Blood, she's described as a great beauty who had black hair and pale purple
eyes, since she bore the traits of both her Baratheon mother and her Targaryen father.
She had a thin body and face into her old age, but her raven locks became streaked with
white in her later years.
Rhaenys was a wild child.
She wore her hair down, preferring it to hang loose and fly in the wind as she rode her
dragon, Meleys.
"Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend to the Iron Throne."
However, in Martin's 2013 novella, The Princess and the Queen, which was later expanded into
Fire & Blood, Rhaenys is described as having the typical silvery-gold hair of a Targaryen.
In both instances, however, Rhaenys is younger than she's portrayed in the series House of
the Dragon.
She's 16 when she marries Corlys Velaryon, who is then in his late thirties.
Eve Best and Steve Toussaint play the characters more like contemporaries on the show, and
the actors themselves are only six years apart in age.
So far, Best's hair has also been done up in some gravity-defying feats of styling,
which isn't consistent with how this formidable princess would've fashioned it herself.
Fans likely found it shocking when the king began to court 12-year-old Lady Laena Velaryon,
the daughter of his cousin and his Master of Ships.
Martin explains that she "inherited the beauty of a true Targaryen from her mother," as well
as her "father's adventurer's spirit."
"You could not ask for a stronger match than Laena."
He adds that she was more interested in flying than in boys and that she had "a great mane
of silver gold ringlets that fell down past her waist."
In short, that crazy, white, curly wig is book accurate, as is her fascination with
dragons.
Though her parents have coached her in what to say to the king, Laena would rather hear
stories about Balerion and Vhagar from Viserys, who is no longer a dragonrider and doesn't
exactly share her enthusiasm for the winged beasts.
Corlys and Rhaenys have two children, one of whom is Laenor Velaryon.
He comes with his own dragon, an undersized but agile silvery-gray creature named Seasmoke,
who we see blazing into the battlefield in Episode 3.
Laenor is talked about in Fire & Blood as if he is attractive.
Martin says he has an "aquiline nose," "silver-white hair," and "purple eyes."
Again, no skin color is mentioned.
But he's not known for being stereotypically masculine.
His sister Laena is described as being "almost as pretty as her brother."
While the features of the other Velaryons aren't necessarily important plot points,
Laenor's physical attributes do become a pivotal part of the story going forward, at least
in the book.
The early episodes of House of the Dragon make it pretty darn clear: everyone, especially
Princess Rhaenyra, thinks Ser Criston Cole is a dreamboat.
Just before he bests her uncle at her brother's name day tournament, he asks Rhaenyra for
her favor.
When he takes off his helmet, the princess and lady Alicent are taken aback by that olive
skin, that wavy brunette hair, and those puppy dog brown eyes.
What Criston lacks — a noble birth, bannermen, and presumably money — he makes up for in
smolder and real-world combat experience.
It could be the latter that sways Rhaenyra to choose him for the Kingsguard, but let's
be honest, it's probably the former.
"I choose Ser Criston Cole."
Ser Criston Cole is the tall, dark, and handsome object of everyone's affection in Fire & Blood,
too.
Martin writes that he's "a comely young knight of three and 20 years," with "pale green eyes,
coal black hair, and easy charm."
He's the "favorite of all the ladies at court" including Rhaenyra, who begs for him to be
appointed to the post of her personal protector.
"Perhaps my prince recalls when I knocked him off his horse."
In both the novel and the series, he's extremely handy with his morning star.
One of the consistent complaints that's been directed at House of the Dragon is the portrayal
of the woman with whom Prince Daemon is smitten, Mysaria.
Specifically, that criticism has had to do with the accent that actress Sonoya Mizuno
has been asked to affect.
The distractingly thick dialect is a show invention.
"I came to you to be liberated."
In both the text and the show, Mysaria is an exotic dancer and sex worker from the city
of Lys who becomes Prince Daemon's mistress and confidant.
In print, she is also known by the nicknames Lady Misery and the White Worm.
That's because her hard life has hardened her outward appearance, which is described
as "milky white."
Though Book Mysaria is written as "lithe" and "lissome" in her younger days, Martin,
who seems preoccupied with the waist measurements of his female characters, writes that she
thickens in older age.
It should be noted that in Fire & Blood, she is actually pregnant when Daemon steals the
dragon egg intended for their baby's crib.