The Witcher Season 3 Just Showed House of the Dragon How It's Done

Graham McTavish is a seasoned actor who has appeared in major productions such as 24, Outlander and The Hobbit franchise. He's also the link between The Witcher and House of the Dragon.

The two fantasy shows are very different, though both deal with power struggles and politics in their respective worlds.

McTavish plays Redanian intelligence chief Sigismund Dijkstra in The Witcher Season 2 and was also Ser Harrold Westerling in House of the Dragon Season 1.

Viewers may recall Westerling returning his cloak in response to Otto Hightower's order to go to Dragonstone and kill Rhaenyra, saying, 'I recognize no authority but the King's. And until there is one, I have no place here.' There is no doubt that Harrold Westering is an honorable and decent man.

As Dijkstra, McTavish plays a very different role. He was part of a plot to kill Queen Hedwig. It was a character who did what he thought was right. But it was also a character who used underhanded tactics to achieve his goals.

And while I am not suggesting that House of the Dragon Season 2 should simply turn Harrold Westerling into a carbon copy of Sigismund Dijkstra, it does raise the question of whether there might be more to the former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard than meets the eye.

Conspicuously absent from the cast list for House of the Dragon Season 2 is McTavish. This suggests that his character is finished. But given that the showrunners decided to keep him alive in the first season, as George R.R. Martin did in the book series, it would seem that he was due for some character development.

So far, Ser Harrold has been pretty one-dimensional. But as the Dance of the Dragons heats up and both sides seem willing to make up the rules as they go along, there's plenty of room for moral dilemmas and conundrums.

These seem to play perfectly into the actor's abilities and the development of a character who has so far been nothing but pure and noble.

It seems that The Witcher has found a more complex way to portray a man who only wants to do what he thinks is right. And in this case, The Witcher has shown House of the Dragon how it should be done.