With the advent of a new Game of Thrones television series, fan spaces quickly filled with questions about which characters from the source material will or will not appear on screen. George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series is rife with memorable, well-drawn characters that sadly, for one reason or another, never made the transition, such as Lady Stoneheart or Strong Belwas or Victarion Greyjoy. With the advent of the new series House of the Dragon, the Internet is abuzz with speculation about characters from its source book, Fire and Blood.
I wonât get into any spoilers for future episodes here, but Iâd like to put forward the case that, among the characters we havenât heard any casting announcements for yet, the lords and noblemen of the proud house of Tully, the lords of Riverrun, ancestors of Catelyn Stark and the Stark children, should be represented on screen. And that in doing so, HBO could well help rectify a recent mistake made by its corporate liege lords.
Ruling from their seat in Riverrun, the Great Family Tully are the Lords Paramount of the Trident, having risen to prominence during Aegonâs Conquest. By siding with the Targaeryens against Harren the Black, the last King of the Isles and the Rivers, the Tullys were awarded rulership over a vast expanse of Westeros, including Maidenpool, Acorn Hall and The Twins. But are the Tullys, colorful characters to be sure, merely the puppets of the Targaryens?
Lord Grover Tully
First and foremost amongst the Tullys in the era of House of the Dragon is Lord Grover, the Patriarch of the family (here pictured in a piece of fan art addressing an unnamed young Lannister). At the point where House of the Dragons starts, Lord Grover has already played a key role in the story, casting his vote to make Prince Viserys (Paddy Considine) king at the Great Council of 101 AC (depicted in the showâs opening minutes). Lord Grover is, above all, a principled man, though quite conflict-averse in the style of Game of Thronesâs Davos Seaworth or Ned Stark and quite aged, and would be a fine addition to this latest television series.
Ser Elmo Tully
Lord Groverâs heir is his grandson, Ser Elmo Tully, a younger, more pragmatic knight of Westeros. During a crucial moment in the upcoming “Dance of the Dragons”, young Ser Elmo makes a critical, if somewhat rash decision on behalf of his family. As he puts it, âA dragon in one’s courtyard does wonders to resolve one’s doubts.â He becomes a strong military leader of more than 6,000 men, and is a fine representative of his house, though he sometimes lacks good judgment, akin to Robb Stark or Stannis Baratheon.
Ser Kermit Tully
And now we come to the most formidable of the Tullys: Ser Kermit. At age 19, he proves he is no mere green boy in the final battle of the Dance of the Dragons, fighting man to man with the leader of the opposing army, slaying his enemy with a Morningstar (the same weapon Cristan Cole wielded against Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon‘s first episode). After the war, Kermit is hailed as one of the great heroes of Westeros, a powerful warrior, a celebrated knight and leader of men, akin to Jon Snow or Khal Drogo.
Oscar Tully
The final Tully we meet in Fire and Blood is Kermitâs younger brother Oscar Tully. Always living in the shadow of his much more beloved older brother, he is a warrior through and through. Oscar eventually strikes off on his own and, in the grand tradition of “second sons”, forms a free company, a band of mercenary soldiers for hire, seeking fortune and glory through combat. Compare him to Daario Naharis or The Hound from Game of Thrones.
While the Tullys in the era of House of the Dragon are certainly a varied lot, one thing is for certain: with Warner Bros. Discovery cutting back on new content and removing old content like 200 episodes of the family favorite Sesame Street, HBOâs corporate overlords will need to establish new, memorable characters to replace those theyâve removed. Who will step up to take the place of beloved Sesame characters like Cookie Monster, Count von Count or Prairie Dawn?
Perhaps House of the Dragon’s Tully family of Riverrun can fill that void.
