Oscar Tully Is the Best New ‘House of the Dragon’ Character Yet

(Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 7.)

Westeros has had no shortage of precocious and outspoken teens, many of whom are often prone to violence or prematurely stepped into power. They never fail to entertain us, whether you’re talking about Arya and Sansa Stark (each showcasing a different side of this dynamic), young rulers with hefty might like Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, or watching bloodthirsty Blackwoods and Brackens dance to an ages-long feud like they’re Westeros’s Hatfields and McCoys on House of the Dragon.

With a power shift in the Riverlands in Episode 7, House of the Dragon properly introduces a new contender for Westeros’s best scene-stealer.

Lord Oscar Tully (Archie Barnes) isn’t vying for the Iron Throne like many of the young dragonlords shaping the Dance of the Dragons. The newly appointed Lord of Riverrun is just a young kid who happened to inherit his elderly grandfather’s seat. In his first appearance (Episode 4), he seemed to recoil at Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) suggestion that he speed up his inheritance by mercy-killing his grandsire, Lord Grover Tully, the elderly lord who had the nerve to take his sweet time dying.

Oscar is a young man of honor who upholds his oaths. While he might not like Daemon—adding to the hostile animosity held by the Riverlords—he seemed willing to placate Daemon’s more temperamental nature in public while voicing any concerns or snide remarks in private. He would support Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), planned to call his banners to arms, and called Daemon his “king consort.”

But then Oscar Tully met with the rest of the Riverlords in Harrenhal’s godswood and the mask came off, revealing Oscar as a tactile politician. Daemon was now demoted to “prince” as Oscar promptly handed Daemon his ass. His loyalty is, first and foremost, to his fellow men, not Daemon. And like his namesake, Oscar Tully refused to suffer fools.

In a matter of minutes, Oscar pulled off a young lord liege master class. He listened to his men’s concerns about his age, his judgment over declaring for the Blacks when Daemon sanctioned brutal violence against the Brackens, and acknowledged the faults of his greenness. The longer Oscar spoke, the more Daemon slowly realized that he didn’t get the upper hand on Oscar—in fact, it was the opposite.

At every opportune moment, Oscar reminded Daemon that he was a terrible person, that nobody liked him (least of all himself), and that he was unworthy of anything the Riverlands had to offer him because of how he acted while staying there. Daemon’s only saving grace is that Oscar and the Rivermen had enough integrity to uphold oaths sworn by a different lord more than 20 years ago. And Daemon had to stand there and take it because the alternative was losing the support of every house in the Riverlands, who would’ve absolutely walked away if Oscar ordered it.

“I take to heart your words, Lord Piper, and I agree, I am young,” Oscar said. “And I have no love for Daemon Targaryen. He has dishonored himself and the crown with his comportment here. Nevertheless, having so little experience to guide me, my best course is to defer to the oath my grandsire swore to King Viserys when he named Rhaenyra his heir. I see no reason to cast aside loyalty no matter how loathsome I may find her representative the prince.”

Seeing Oscar’s words as the threat that it was, Daemon allowed the insults to stand. But then Oscar took it a step further by making Daemon atone for the savagery he allowed to be unleashed by executing Willem Blackwood (Jack Parry-Jones). It was an act that might’ve satisfied the Riverlords but made Daemon feel uneasy. It’s no wonder he soon dreamed of his brother Viserys (Paddy Considine) again.

Oscar Tully is a combination of three characters from Fire & Blood: Oscar, a warrior and a second son; his father (and Grover’s grandson in the book) Elmo, who died soon after inheriting the title; and his older brother Kermit, the Lord of Riverrun after Elmo. In Fire & Blood, Oscar is described as “still greener [than his older brother Kermit], and cursed with the sort of prickly pride so common in second sons.” You can see some of that prickly pride on display as Oscar has to contend with Daemon.

But if the names stick out to you, it’s because George R.R. Martin got them from Sesame Street; there’s no trash can to be seen near this Tully, but Oscar is sporting a nice metal collar around his neck. (And it’s not even the first time Martin’s looked toward modern stalwarts for naming inspiration.) So on top of every verbal humiliation he suffered in front of the godswood, Daemon was being read to filth by a Muppet.

Just about everything about this scene rules. It features a teen the adults in the room are almost eager to underestimate and take advantage of. Oscar looks like he’s way in over his head and approaches the scene gingerly, but he slowly becomes more confident the further he pushes in the scene. He pulls one over on Daemon, someone who could end him with a dragon, and forces his hand. And Barnes can easily hold his own in a scene against Smith and Simon Russell Beale (Ser Simon Strong, who we mostly see in reaction shots). Even if we don’t see him in the Season 2 finale, Oscar has already cemented his status as a legend in this part of Westeros.

Unless you count his ego, Oscar may not have delivered a fatal blow to Daemon at that moment. Oscar could easily flame out or survive the war to come. But for those standing among reminders of the old gods as ancient Riverland ways triumphed over hot-headed dragons, it’s yet another moment showcasing an increasing: The Targaryens are not gods, and they’re just as mortal as everyone else.