MOVIE NEWS – Cregan Stark represents the Starks and the Kingdom of the North in the age of the House of the Dragon, but what kind of leader is he and what role will he play in the story? (WARNING! Possible spoilers about the story of seasons 1 and 2 of the series!)

House of the Dragon is full of all kinds of royal families. But one of the great houses in the Game of Thrones plot that is conspicuously absent is that of the Starks. In House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1, “Heirs of the Dragon,” King Viserys I summons the lords from all over Westeros. Among them, the Warden of the North, Rickon Stark, swears an oath to protect his heir, Rhaenyra, against all enemies, and pledge allegiance to her. Rickon takes the oath and Rhaenyra becomes the king’s titular heir.

Rickon remains the sole representative of the Starks in House of the Dragon season 1, but Rhaenyra’s advice includes the Starks as those who do not break their oaths.

In Season 1, Episode 10, “The Black Queen,” Rhaenyra’s men count the houses that would side with them in the event of war. Someone in the hall declares that there has never been a Stark who has forgotten his oath. Also, the North will follow wherever House Stark goes.

Rhaenyra sent Jacaerys Velaryon to the North

At the end of House of the Dragon “The Black Queen”, Rhaenyra sends her sons Jacaerys to Winterfell and Lucerys to Storm’s End. Lucerys gets there first, and she pulls the shorter one. Lord Borros Baratheon sides with the Greens. Lucerys is ordered to leave the castle. He dies moments later when Aemond Targaryen chases him with Vhagar. In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Jacaerys goes to Winterfell to meet the lord of the castle and the Warden of the North.

Rhaenyra gave Jacaerys some advice about the Lord of the North:

“Cregan Stark is closer to your age than he is to mine. I would hope, that as men, you can find some common interest.”

With that, she handed Jacaerys a scroll and flew away on Vermax. This was all the “Black Queen” of the House of the Dragon had to say about the current lord of Winterfell.

Ancestor of Game of Thrones’ Ned and Jon Snow: Cregan Stark

Cregan stuck to his father Rickon’s oath and sided with Rhaeny, Jacaerys, and the Blacks in the Dance of Dragons. The ancestor of the Starks seen in Game of Thrones, Cregan is said to have lived during the Targaryen kings – Viserys I, the usurper, Aegon II, his nephew, and Aegon III. He lived in the age of Aegon and Daeron I. He survived Viserys, who caused a split in the empire, and the elder and younger Aegon, so he became known as the Old Man of the North. Young Cregan was fondly called the Wolf of the North. Cregan’s mother was a Glover – a fief of the Starks who ruled from their seat at Deepwood Motte in the northwestern part of the Wolfwood.

When Lord Rickon died, Cregan was still a minor, so the Kingdom of the North came under the regency of his brother Bennard.

Cregan came of age three years later. He put his uncle behind bars and married Arra Norrey. However, the latter died while giving birth to their son, whom Cregan named after his late father, Lord Rickon. Cregan’s firstborn son died for the Targaryens alongside Sunspear in one of the climactic battles of the Conquest of Daeron. As for Cregan, he led an army to King’s Castle in the final moments of the Dance, long after Jacaerys’ death. There is no question that Cregan will play a good host to Jacaerys in the upcoming House of the Dragon season 2.

There are several accounts of Jacaerys visiting the North in Game of Thrones history. For example, Grand Maester Munkun says that the Prince of Dragonstone and Cregan became fast friends. They went hunting and then took an oath of brotherhood. According to Septon Eustace, Jacaerys tried to enlist Cregan in the Faith of the Seven, as the latter, being a northerner, worshipped the old gods of the forest. The court jester Mushroom claims that Jacaerys was bedded by Cregan’s half-sister Sara Snow and that the two of them were married in the Godswood. He adds that this marriage was the reason Cregan finally came to his senses. Archmaester Gyldayn has less faith in Mushroom’s spicy account. House of the Dragon may consider any of the above story variants when creating Jace’s visit. But maybe not.

Tom Taylor has signed on to play Cregan Stark

Jace and Cregan form an agreement that Munkun says is called the Pact of Ice and Fire. According to this, if Jace had a daughter in the future, she would marry Cregan’s firstborn, Rickon. This pact did not materialize as Jacaerys died in one of the story’s great sea battles. The first army of Northmen under the command of Roderick Dustin, who went south to fight for their queen, is known in folklore as the Winter Wolves. This army proved its mettle in the Riverlands but failed in the First Battle of Tumbleton.

The Dance raged on, and Cregan kept his oath to the end, even with Rhaenyra’s death and II. Even after Aegon’s poisoning.

According to Game of Thrones history, after the Dance of Dragons, Cregan briefly served as the Hand of Aegon the Younger. Members of House Stark were known to act honestly. Cregan was no exception. Objected against Aegon II’s murder, and imprisoned court suspects involved in the regicide. He would have preferred the usurper king to be defeated on the battlefield. Cregan Stark retreated north after Aegon the Younger began his reign.

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that actor Tom Taylor will play Cregan Stark in Season 2 of House of the Dragon.

Source: EW