'House of the Dragon' Makes Tom Cullen a Knight for Season 3

HBO's House of the Dragon will never be as big as Game of Thrones was during its heyday, the world has changed too much,  not to mention the entertainment landscape. But, like many British-ish series, it continues to gainfully employ fan favorites from PBS shows, and even sometimes helps return them to cultural relevance, much like the original series did for Charles Dance. The series, which stars Matt Smith (The Crown) and Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses), also follows in the footsteps of its predecessor by killing off large sections of the cast every season, necessitating hiring more PBS stars.

We already noted that James Norton (Grantchester's OG Hot Priest) will be joining the series in a relatively high-profile role as one of the Hightower patriarchs. (Hightower is the prominent family supporting the "Team Green" side of the Targaryen Civil War, almost guaranteeing Norton will die spectacularly at some point.) Now we've got another PBS star from the same era joining the series, as Tom Cullen, who Downton Abbey fans will remember as Lady Mary's rebound beau, who she summarily dumped for being boring in bed, Tony, Lord Gillingham.

Cullen has been cast as Ser Luthor Largent, the Head of the City Watch in King's Landing. (Game of Thrones fans will remember that position as held by Lord Janos Slynt.) That puts him on Team Green automatically as they hold King's Landing. Unless, of course, he decides to betray them. (Something that happens an awful lot.)