The Starks Are Officially Returning With Their Biggest Game Of Thrones Role In Years
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Warning! This article contains spoilers for Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon.The Game of Thrones franchise is all geared up to adapt one of House Stark's most significant events in Westerosi history. This family stood at the very center of HBO's fantasy TV series, but it has been a while since the overarching franchise spent much time on them. House of the Dragon is all about the Targaryen Civil War known as the Dance of the Dragons, and therefore keeps this ill-fated royal family at center stage. Then there's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which so far has even less time for the North's Starks.
That's all about to change as House of the Dragon heads into its fourth and final season. In this prequel series, we've already met Cregan Stark and the Winter Wolves, who have allied themselves with Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and her Black faction. The Winter Wolves got some time to shine in season 3, but these, like Ser Roderick Dustin (Roddy the Ruin), are Stark bannermen, not necessarily Starks themselves. Cregan has remained largely off-screen since Prince Jace met with him in season 2, but his big moment is about to arrive.
House of the Dragon season 4 will bring about the end of the Dance of the Dragons, but neither Rhaenyra nor her brother Aegon will hold the crown indefinitely. Rhaenyra's end is likely to happen fairly early in the season, and this will be followed by Aegon's return to King's Landing. Once again, Aegon will prove himself to be a rather abysmal king, and this results in him being mysteriously poisoned. This sneaky, dishonorable assassination is the event that puts the Lord of Winterfell into action.
It's Nearly Time For The Hour Of The Wolf
The Starks' big moment at the end of the Dance of the Dragons comes to be known as the Hour of the Wolf. Following King Aegon II's assassination, Cregan Stark arrives in King's Landing with his army and takes control. Rhaenyra's son, Aegon III, is handed the throne at the age of only 11, thanks largely to the efforts of Lord Corlys Velaryon. There is an opportunity for peace here, but Cregan Stark isn't quite satisfied. In his eyes, there is still a need for justice.
Cregan doesn't just want the Greens to pay for their actions. In classic Stark fashion, he is less than thrilled by the sneaky assassination of King Aegon II and believes those who participated must face punishment. Cregan successfully snags the position of Hand of the King and begins dispensing justice. Among those executed are Lord Larys Strong and Ser Gyles of the Kingsguard. Cregan himself is the one who executes these men, using, of course, the Valyrian greatsword called Ice (the one Ned Stark will one day wield).
Cregan then turns his justice toward Corlys Velaryon, the orchestrator of Aegon the Younger's betrothal to Princess Jaehaera Targaryen and a key conspirator in King Aegon II's death. Corlys only avoids Ice thanks to the advocacy of his granddaughters, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen, and the appeasement of Alysanne "Black Aly" Blackwood, who agrees to marry Cregan as part of the deal to spare Corlys a damning trial. With that, Cregan steps down from his position of Hand of the King (which he held for only a day) and returns North.
There Are Still Plenty Of Stark Stories For The Game Of Thrones Franchise To Tell
The Hour of the Wolf will be a dark, bloody, honor-led event in House of the Dragon season 4, which should remind us of many of House Stark's most famous (or, in this case, infamous) qualities. We see in Cregan many of the values later held by Ned, who believed in acting honorably toward enemies and being the hand to carry out executions at his own word. Additionally, the Hour of the Wolf is a reminder of House Stark's hidden might. The realm sometimes forgets, but this isn't a family to be trifled with.
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The idea of the Starks coming back to center stage after so long in House of the Dragon is certainly exciting. It's also another intriguing reminder, as there are still several key stories about this family that have yet to be brought to the screen. The Starks' roles in the central Game of Thrones series didn't come out of nowhere. There were generations of events that led up to Ned heading to King's Landing to be Hand of the King, as well as the eventual claiming of the throne by Bran Stark and the establishment of the North as its own kingdom.
Given the importance of House Stark and the continued expansion of the Game of Thrones franchise, we can likely expect at least some of these stories to be adapted in the future. Rhaegar and Lyanna's secret romance, Ned's father and brother's deaths, Robert's rebellion, and so much more are even more key. It's only a matter of time.
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House of the Dragon
8/10
- Release Date
- August 21, 2022
- Network
- HBO
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Prince Daemon Targaryen
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Fabien Frankel
Ser Criston Cole
Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria.
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Game Of Thrones
10/10
- Release Date
- 2011 - 2019-00-00
- Showrunner
- David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
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Jon Snow
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Isaac Hempstead Wright
Brandon Bran Stark
Based on George R. R. Martin's ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos. It follows noble families like the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryen vying for control of the Iron Throne while a rising threat from the undead looms in the North.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.