House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series that debuted on HBO and Max in 2022 and is returning soon, focuses on House Targaryen, generations before the events of the original Game of Thrones series.
They are, of course, the ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), one of the main characters on Game of Thrones, whose series-long plot was about wanting to recapture her family's throne.
While House of the Dragon focuses on that particular family, we did get occasional glimpses of other familiar houses in the first season of that show, including the Baratheons. Also, there are fleeting mentions of Houses such as Arryn and Stark.
While the members of House Stark were among the most important characters throughout Game of Thrones, none of the Starks were major characters In the first season of House of the Dragon.
However, it appears that it is about to change.
Meet Lord Cregan
Entertainment Weekly, which has frequently broken stories about Westeros since the early days of the original series, confirmed in December that Cregan Stark will arrive as a character on House of the Dragon in its second season.
Actor Tom Taylor will play the character of Cregan, who at the time of House of the Dragon is the Lord of Winterfell.
Taylor is a 22-year-old English actor who has appeared on British shows such as Doctor Foster and The Last Kingdom. He also starred in the movie The Dark Tower, along with Idris Elba.
Relation to the other Starks?
Based on George R.R. Martin's source material, Cregan Stark is the son of Rickon Stark, who was seen very briefly in the first season of House of the Dragon.
The implication is that Rickon died at some point between seasons and was succeeded as Lord of Winterfell by Cregan.
The Starks are a family in which the same first names are used repeatedly across generations, and Ned Stark's doomed youngest son was also named Rickon.
Cregan, living about 170 years before the events of Game of Thrones, is the great-great-great-great grandfather of Eddard "Ned" Stark and, therefore, the great-great-great-great-great grandfather of Ned's many children.
In the "Black" trailer for House of the Dragon Season 2, Cregan is seen briefly in a meeting at what appears to be the familiar courtyard of Winterfell.
A Lord, not a King
Cregan's title is Lord of Winterfell rather than King in the North, indicating that the Starks, at this point, are allied with the crown and not in rebellion.
His descendants, Robb Stark and Jon Snow, would later take the latter title.
As evidenced by the source material, Cregan will join the "black" side of the Targaryen civil war, the faction loyal to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Since Queen Rhaenyra said at the end of Season 1 that she was sending her son Jacaerys to the North, there are indications that perhaps we will get to see an earlier version of Winterfell as a significant location in the new season of House of the Dragon.
Since Cragan is a consistent character throughout the "Fire and Blood" book, there's a good chance that he will remain part of the action for many seasons of House of the Dragon.
Who were the Starks, again?
The Starks were probably the family that was the subject of most of the plots in Game of Thrones while also suffering the most tragedy.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean) looked like the unquestioned protagonist of the series in its first season, only to lose his head near the end of that season in the first significant shocker.
Two seasons later, Ned's son Robb (Richard Madden), wife Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), and numerous other bannermen loyal to the Starks lost their lives in the Red Wedding.
However, Ned's "bastard" son Jon Snow (Kit Harington) — who later turned out to be anything but — ended up a key figure in Thrones plots throughout the series, as did Sansa (Sophie Turner), Arya (Maisie Williams) and Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright.)
The series ended with the Starks triumphant, with Bran as king of Westeros, Sansa Queen in the North, Arya sailing "West of Westeros," and Jon Snow again venturing North of the Wall.
It was rumored that a Jon Snow sequel series was in the works, but that project now appears dead.
All about Season 2
Warner Bros Discovery has announced some details about the second season of House of the Dragon.
The eight-episode second season will arrive on June 16 on HBO and Max. With that came "dueling trailers" for the new season.
"Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively," HBO's official description of the season plot says.
"As each side believes theirs to be the rightful seat on the Iron Throne, the Green and Black trailers reflect those two perspectives in separate yet complementary halves of the same story."
The question has been raised of whether many fans will enter the new season as excited about House of the Dragon as they typically did about Game of Thrones.
After all, House of the Dragon has had a nearly two-year hiatus following a first season that, while popular, didn't capture the zeitgeist like Thrones typically did.
However, the trailers have indicated that exciting things are happening, and the Starks will again be part of that.
How much do you know about Cregan Stark?
Do you think his role will be a game-changer for the upcoming season?
Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!