‘House of the Dragon’s New Character Has a Connection to … ‘Sesame Street’?
The latest episode of House of the Dragon introduced Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes), a character with an important role in Fire & Blood who also bears a connection to Sesame Street.
House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” raises the intensity of the series even further as a dragon battle breaks out and war is on the horizon. Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is still staying in the crumbling castle of Harrenhal, where he finds himself haunted by nightmares, including a dream that hints at his jealousy of his wife, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), and foreshadows blood on his hands in the future.
Pushing his nightmare aside, Daemon sets about his task of forming a grand army for Rhaenyra. He arranges a meeting with Grover Tully, the head of House Tully and Lord of Riverrun. Daemon hopes the powerful lord will be of use in the war effort. However, when he arrives at the meeting, he finds Oscar instead of Grover.
Who is Oscar Tully?
House of the Dragon soon reveals that the elderly Grover is very ill. As a result, he has sent his grandson, Oscar, in his place to meet Daemon. The young boy appears very nervous during the meeting, as he stammers a greeting and relays his grandfather’s poor condition to Daemon. Deamon then asks Oscar if he’d be willing to hurry along his grandfather’s demise, claim his inheritance, and offer his resources to the war effort. However, the young heir is horrified by the suggestion, explaining that he loves Grover like a father, considering his own father has passed away.
Daemon then asks if Oscar will act for Grover while the Lord is still alive, to which Oscar responds, “That is not our way.” At that point, a sneering Daemon insults House Tully, storming out of the meeting while stating he requires “men of action.” In the books, Oscar ultimately did fight in the Dance of the Dragons, during which he was knighted following the Battle of the Kingsroad. After the war, he created the Stormbreakers, a sellsword company. It remains to be seen if the series will adapt this part of his story. House of the Dragon has already made a few changes to Oscar’s story, as his father should have still been living, and he should have had a brother rather than being the sole heir to Grover.
It’s a bit of a shame that Oscar’s father and brother aren’t in the series, as they would’ve made the Sesame Street connection even more noticeable. Author George R. R. Martin sometimes includes pop culture references in his books, including naming the Tully family after Sesame Street characters. In addition to Grover and Oscar, Oscar’s father was named Elmo Tully, and his brother was Kermit Tully. The Sesame Street names aren’t significant to the story; they are just one of the less subtle pop culture references Martin included to be cheeky. Still, it would’ve been quite humorous to hear Elmo and Kermit referenced in House of the Dragon.
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