Spoilers for House of the Dragon, do be careful not to ruin anything for yourself.
Just as audiences were getting used to them on their screens, a whole load of characters from House of the Dragon are getting recast with older actors.
With the Game of Thrones spin off enjoying a strong first season on HBO, audiences are getting convinced to invest themselves in several more years of the big wide world of Westeros.
However, with the show spanning several years and a big chunk of history in George RR Martin's fantasy world, the same actors aren't going to be able to play the same characters forever, and with a major time jump coming up some of your favourites are set to change actor.
House of the Dragon is about to embark on a time jump of around 10 years, so some younger characters will need to be aged up beyond the abilities of a good costume and makeup department.
We know for sure that more than 10 characters we've met (even if they're very young children) are getting new actors as they age up to keep in line with House of the Dragon's sprawling timelines.
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Fans have especially fallen in love with the likes of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who is currently played by Milly Alcock, but they'll have to say goodbye forever to her as Emma D'Arcy is soon to step into the role.
Along with her goes Emily Carey's Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra's best friend turned mother-in-law after she married King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), with Olivia Cooke stepping into the role as the Queen.
With the royal family aging up, so too do their children, with Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, Baela, and Rhaena Targaryen (those silver-haired dragon riders have been getting busy) all getting new actors to represent the time skip.
Ty Tennant will be playing young Aegon, though, in time he'll hand the role off to Tom Glynn-Carey who will play the adult Aegon.
Evie Allen and then Phia Saban will play Helaena as the character ages, while new kid on the block Aemond Targaryen will be played by Leo Ashton and then Ewan Mitchell.
The Velaryon kids, Laenor and Laena, are also growing up, while Rhaenyra's kids Jacaerys and Lucerys are getting new actors too.
If nothing else, you at least know that none of these characters are imminently about to suffer the cruel and random death that ends up being fate of so many key players in George RR Martin's stories.
As long as they're not yet on their final actor, you know they've got at least one more time skip in them, though anything after that is a mystery.
The time skips are going to be a big ask for audiences to deal with as a whole load of the cast changes and new characters are suddenly important when fans barely know their names.
However, as fans have been on board thus far it shouldn't be too much of an ask to expect viewers to keep up.
Featured Image Credit: HBO
Topics: House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, HBO, TV and Film
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