The show has been overlooking potentially compelling storylines for much longer than everyone thought.

House of the Dragon is back on the screens with its second season, but its highly anticipated arrival wasn’t as epic as expected. For weeks that preceded the first episode’s drop last Sunday, the show has been luring its fans with a lot of promo stuff including some teasers and trailers that clearly showed House Stark’s entrance in the prequel.

Given that the Starks have been a fan-favorite family ever since Game of Thrones ’ first seasons, it didn’t take long for House of the Dragon’s audience to get all thrilled about their appearance and eventual participation in the upcoming war between the Blacks and the Greens.

However, the prequel’s new season started on quite a bad note with its first episode giving Cregan Stark and his vast northern land not more than 5 minutes of screen time, infuriating fans even more with an announcement that Cregan won’t be back until House of the Dragon’s season 3 arrives in a couple of years.

Now that many keep themselves busy ranting over the showrunners’ audacity, another major character’s sudden departure must’ve slipped everyone’s mind and, despite not being royal, his role in the whole storyline was a pretty much big deal back in season 1.

Ser Harwin Strong Still Deserves Justice He’ll Never Get

House of the Dragon appears to be no stranger to ditching important characters just like that, as the first season easily removed Ser Harwin Strong, portrayed by Ryan Corr, though he’s surely been someone directly connected to Rhaenyra.

In the first season’s episode 6, it becomes clear that Rhaenyra’s three sons aren’t actually the children of Laenor Velaryon (who then turns out to be queer) but Ser Harwin’s.

The latter thus appears to be some kind of loyal lover to the Blacks’ Queen and someone who’s been by her side for years, but his sorry fate is decided by the end of the same episode where Harwin dies while trying to take his father out of their family’s burning house.

Back in 2022 when the episode got released, the show also received a major backlash from fans who stated that Harwin Strong had definitely deserved better than that as him growing his and Rhaenyra’s kids proved that there was much more to tell about their long-standing relationships.

After all, Harwin Strong isn’t the only overlooked character now, and the list may get bigger once House of the Dragon’s second season unveils more plot twists in the upcoming episodes.