House of the Dragon Season 2 is finally here. While nobody from Game of Thrones appears in the show, fans have no doubt been able to spot several different archetypes in the new show who could stand in for established characters in Game of Thrones.
One particularly messy family in Game of Thrones is the Lannisters, and many fans have been comparing the lords of Casterly Rock to the equally messy Targaryens around the era of HOTD. So which HOTD characters are best compared to their GOT counterparts?
Tywin Lannister vs. Otto Hightower
In Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) is known as a ruthless political leader who has no empathy for the smallfolk and tries his best to put his family in a place of power. He served as Hand of the King for Aerys II Targaryen, and it was even said that he was the one who truly ruled at the time. After some time, Tywin also served as a Hand for his grandson, Joffrey Baratheon.
For comparison, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) also served as Hand of the King for Viserys I Targaryen. Though he didn’t have the same kind of military presence surrounding his persona as Tywin, Otto was every bit as conniving. To secure his bloodline to royalty, he forces his daughter Alicent to seduce Viserys and produce heirs, robbing Rhaenyra of her legitimate claim to the crown.
So far, Otto has not had the same time to shine as Tywin has on GoT—and some fans have been fondly referring to him as “Middlefinger”— but he has a very high seat at the council in this era of Westeros. He’s one of the figures driving the conflict between the Green and the Black Targaryens.
Jaime Lannister vs. Daemon Targaryen
Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is considered a perversion of the ‘noble knight’ archetype common in fairytales. He’s very handsome and skilled with a sword, but he’s also an incestuous bastard who killed the king he had sworn to protect.
Eventually, Jaime’s arc evolves throughout the story, and we see him lose his hand and become more noble thanks to his friendship with Brienne of Tarth. Sure, he ends up back in his sister's arms by the end of the series, but no fan wants to count that as part of his ‘proper’ character arc. They’re choosing to wait for Winds of Winter for that.
Now, comparing Jaime to HOTD’s Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Daemon has the makings of a typical knight-in-shining-armour, but he does have a tendency to be ruthless and is willing to go through less-than-noble means to get the job done.
Just like Jaime, though, Daemon has a severe loyalty to his family, and though he had been estranged from his brother Viserys, he still ended up showing his support for the Targaryen bloodline. Let’s also not forget that Daemon himself is also not accessible from the incest accusations as he seduced his niece Rhaenyra and eventually married her.
Cersei Lannister vs. Alicent Hightower
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is considered one of the most despicable villains in Game of Thrones, but she has also been lauded for being quite the capable ‘player’ in the Game. She can use her beauty to manipulate who she needs to be and gain the upper hand.
When it comes to comparing Cersei with Alicent (Olivia Cooke), the two actually have a lot in common in the sense that they were both thrust into positions by their fathers—Cersei was forced to marry Robert Baratheon, and Alicent was forced to marry King Viserys—and they have both found it hard to navigate their own positions of power because they were women.
Not to mention, Cersei and Alicent have fierce ‘Mama Bear’ energy regarding their children. Their kids can act as spoiled and entitled as they want to, but when someone hurts them, you can expect Cersei and Alicent to demand blood be spilt.
Admittedly, Alicent is not as cruel as Cersei, and it does seem that her support for Aegon as the king comes from a place where she believes she’s fulfilling Viserys’ actual wishes. It appears that it is Otto who is the one who is only focused on frequently raising the family’s status and power.
Joffrey Baratheon vs. Aegon Targaryen
No character in Game of Thrones makes blood boil as much as Joffrey Baratheon. From the first season, when he demanded Ned Stark to be beheaded, to his final moments during the Purple Wedding, Joffrey was considered to be one of the worst rulers of the Seven Kingdoms. He was cruel and sadistic, and he didn’t do anything of note regarding his rule.
Compare that to Aegon Targaryen, who is almost as unprepared for the throne as Joffrey was. He is not wise or savvy, and he takes everything in stride. Season 2 starts with Aegon being a somewhat admirable figure in that he wants to help the smallfolk who visit his hall. He is quickly shut down by his hand Otto because he simply doesn’t know enough about the system to make promises to anyone.
After the death of his first-born son, though, fans are expecting Aegon to turn the cruelty up to eleven. “The Dance of Dragons” is considered a blood bath, and the current king seated at King’s Landing is out for it.
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