House of the Dragon mostly concerns itself with Targaryens or Targaryen-adjacent family members. It makes sense; they are the dynasty battling for control of Westeros. But as we’ve seen in all of HBO’s George R.R. Martin adaptations, especially Game of Thrones but also A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the land is vast and the population is very diverse. This fact will come into focus in season three, when Rhaenyra’s Team Black will add powerful new fighters to its side: the Winter Wolves.
Leading the charge is one of Fire & Blood‘s coolest Northmen: Roddy the Ruin, more formally known as Ser Roderick Dustin. His army enters the Dance of the Dragons to defend Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne, and they’re not a bunch of fresh-faced soldiers; these are battle-tested, grizzled warriors who leave their frozen homeland to wage war while the younger generations stay behind. Cast as Roddy the Ruin is a face familiar to fans of biker drama Sons of Anarchy—Tommy Flanagan—and he’ll bring that outlaw spirit to the HBO show.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan and House of the Dragon co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal teased a “ferocious” character they predict will resonate with viewers.
“All he wants to do is die this glorious death,” Flanagan said. “A lot of this is really brutal, [but] there’s a lot of humor in it … my mission is just to kill, destroy, save the queen, save the kingdoms. It just dragged me in.”
Condal recalls describing the character to Flanagan as “basically a Viking warrior who has passed his prime and has the choice of probably dying in a long and difficult winter, or he can get sent south to battle and go to Valhalla.”
Condal also noted, “It’s hard to find British actors that haven’t been a Westerosi character yet,” but Flanagan was busy during most of Game of Thrones’ run making Sons of Anarchy; he also popped up on the spin-off series Mayans M.C. It sounds like it was worth the wait for the actor to make his Westeros debut with Roddy the Ruin.
“As soon as you got that armor on and the hair and the beard… there was no acting required,” Flanagan told EW.
House of the Dragon season three arrives June 21 on HBO.
