With a little over a month away from its premiere, the anticipation surrounding House of the Dragons 2 is extremely high, thanks to the first one, which reinvigorated fans’ interest in the IP. Moreover, fans are excited to see how Lady Baela Targaryen’s story will expand in the new one, as despite having less screen time in the first season, she did succeed in leaving a lasting impact.
Although many were reasonably left impressed by Bethany Antonia’s portrayal of the character, a vocal minority online was upset following the diversity presented in the Targaryen/Velaryon clan. But Antonia didn’t let the trolls bring her down and came out as gay in response to one racist rant.
Bethany Antonia Clapped Back at Racist Trolls
Considering people in the Targaryen clan have been mostly presented as whites with blonde hair, Bethany Antonia’s casting as the ward of Rhaenys Targaryen did spark a racist discourse online. Some of them even went as far as to bully the actor by passing on unpleasant comments, and in a screenshot shared by Antonia, one sender wished Antonia death.
The hate comment read (via TMZ):
“N—a, you look like a piece of s–t. It’s a miracle they even included you in the trailer. But we don’t care. I hope you accidentally die on set.”
Biting back at the user, the Get Even star shared on her IG: “Wait till they find out I’m gay too”, with a clown emoji.
In another story, clapping back at the racist trolls, she stated, “Ya’ll won’t ruin this first glimmer of dragon joy for us negroes,” followed by a kiss emoji.
House of the Dragon Improved Upon One Character in Comparison to the Books
Leaving the racist trolls aside, most are enthralled about Antonia’s return as Baela Targaryen and the whole show, as HBO succeeded in hitting it out of the park with the first one.
Moreover, season one of House of the Dragon managed to improve upon the books when it came to King Viserys Targaryen’s character. This made George R.R. Martin wish he had written the character similar to its live-action counterpart in Fire & Blood.
Raving Paddy Constantine’s work as the character, he said:
“Viserys…was not a character who particularly engaged me [in the book]. What Paddy Considine has done, to my mind, has made him much more of a tragic figure, and less of an amiable guy who doesn’t really realize what’s going on about him.”
Considering in most cases, adaptations are often a step down from the source material it’s based on, this was a surprising change of pace, even for Martin.
House of the Dragon 2 will premiere on 16 June 2024 on Max.
