House Of The Dragon Star Olivia Cooke Also Had Difficulty Telling Rhaenyra's Children Apart
"House of the Dragon" really surpassed all expectations and ended its first season on a highly satisfying note. The "Game of Thrones" prequel is highly entertaining, with stunning production design that makes the world of Westeros feel like a lived-in place, great political intrigue that captures the best of early "Game of Thrones," some stunning dragon violence that reminds you they are flying, sentient nuclear weapons, and even a cool anime character.
As good as the show is, however, it is not without flaws. For one, the time skips were often wonky, sloweing down momentum by skipping past important character moments. Worse yet, much in the same vein as "Game of Thrones" itself, "House of the Dragon" suffers a bit form having many characters with similarly sounding fantasy names that are easy to mix up. Indeed, because we're focusing on one very ancient family with a lot of political power and tradition, most names have historical significance. Making matters worse is the fact that the Greens and the Blacks, in their endless competition, have children with very similar names, including having a child named Aegon on each of the two families (which led to horrible misunderstandings). The names in the show, particularly those of the children, can be so confusing that even Alicent herself, Olivia Cooke, gets confused some times.
Too many names
Speaking to Variety, Olivia Cooke was asked if it was hard to keep track of all the characters, especially the children. Cooke, of course, gave a very Alicent response, "Not with my children. With Rhaenyra's children, I was like, 'Which one is this one, now?'"
"There was one moment in Episode 8, I was watching and took a picture and sent it to Emma being like, 'Who's that?' It's just this little kid holding her hand that I never saw. I was like, 'Oh, that's the person that you gave birth to in Episode 6, right?' I just completely forgot, because I never met them. I do get confused and everyone follows the same names. Everyone's called Aegon or Rhaenys or Rhaenyra.
I know my brood, and that's all that matters."
Now, it's easy to sympathize with Cooke, because there are way too many children on the show with the same names, as this very amusing TikTok points out. Making matters worse are the time skips, which, added to the little screentime the kids get, don't help keeping track of who is who. There's two Aegons, an Aemond and a Daemon, twins with the exact same name but just changed slightly, and more. Granted, this also happened in real life, with British monarchs and royals all seemingly being named Edward, John, or Henry.
Kids have it rough on "House of the Dragon," what with the war, the orphan fighting pits, and the flying nuclear weapons that are dragons. We don't need them to suffer more by giving them confusing names. Be better, parents of Westeros.
"House of the Dragon" is streaming on HBO Max.