Here's How Old House of the Dragon Characters Are
Lots of fans are keen to know how old the characters in House of the Dragon are. But it's not always easy to get clarity on this issue. The age for some characters has not been stated, and some of those who have confirmed ages in R.R Martin's Fire & Blood have been given different ages for the TV series.
So, all in all, when it comes to asking, 'How old are the characters in House of the Dragon? ', the answer is that we don't always know but we can have a pretty good guess by combining all the different sources of information. Which is exactly what we have done here.
To start with, let's deal with when the show is set. The series opens in 101 AC when Viserys is announced as the rightful heir by King Jaehaerys. At this point in time, Rhaenys is 27. The show then moves to 172 years prior to the birth of Daenerys. And we know her year of birth is 284 AC. Which takes us to the year 112 AC.
With this information, we can determine that Rhaenyra Targaryen was 15 years old when she first appeared in House of the Dragon. And this is confirmed by Viserys in episode two. By episode three, following a time jump, she is 17.
Therefore, her father, King Viserys I is 35 when this story begins. And his younger brother Daemon is 31. Neither of these ages have been confirmed on-screen though. And Viserys, played by 49-year-old Paddy Considine, certainly appears older than 35. And Matt Smith, who plays Daemon, is 39. So, let's not jump to conclusions on the ages of these two just yet.
Indeed, in an interview prior to the show's release, Paddy Considine described Viserys as a 'silver fox', describing his character as 'middle-aged'.
And showrunner, Ryan Condal said he thinks of Daemon as 'in his late 40s' following the time jump. Although he went on to say the writers and producers 'sort of approached Daemon as the ageless one', suggesting they didn't want to get too bogged down in specifics.
Otto is believed to have been born in around 76 AC which would age him at 36, just a year older than Viserys I. But if we're saying Viserys is considerably older than that, Otto would have to be older too. And Otto is played by Rhys Ifans who is 55.
The confusion over the age of Viserys and Daemon also affects how old we can assume Mysaria is. While no definitive age is ever attributed to her, all the indications are that she is roughly the same age as Daemon. So, if he is older in the series than the 31 years that we might otherwise have gauged him to be judging by his year of birth in the book being 81AC, then we must conclude that Mysaria is also older than we may have thought.
Potentially, then, the ages of some of these characters have been changed but series producers have decided to imply these newly determined ages through appearance rather than stating them.
Significant years that we already know include 88 AC, which is when Lady Alicent Hightower was born according to Fire & Blood. Once again, based on our knowledge that the series begins in 112 AC, we can assume she is 24. Or can we?
Because the TV show indicates that she is around the same age as Princess Rhaenyra. And she is played by 19-year-old Emily Carey who is actually 3 years younger than Milly Alcock who plays Rhaenyra.
There also appears to be a change in the age of Jason Lannister between the book and the TV series. He has originally been said to have been born between 89 and 97 AC. This would put him at roughly the same age as Rhaenyra. Yet he is played by 44-year-old actor Jefferson Hall and appears far more advanced in years.
We're also told that Corlys Velaryon was born in 53 AC and his wife Rhaenys in 74 AC, making them 59 and 38 respectively.
When she first appears in episode two, Laena Velaryon is 12. She returned as a teenager and again as an adult following time jumps.
Of course, it's important to note that these are ages at the start of the series. The various time jumps that are going to see over the course of the series are going to age the characters considerably. And many of them will have a change actor to reflect this as the show develops.
All in all, it's fair to say that the exact ages of many of the characters are up for debate. Where needed for the sake of the storyline, it appears the show's producers will explicitly state how old a character is. Where it has no bearing on the story, however, it seems they are looking to imply a rough age bracket and allow viewers to draw their own conclusions rather than make it abundantly clear.