Gender swap in "House of the Dragon" stirs discussion among fans

In the not-so-thrilling second season of "House of the Dragon," one of the more vibrant characters introduced at the end of the series is Sharako Lohar, who leads a powerful fleet. However, viewers are questioning why the character's gender, originally a man in the book, was changed.

From the encyclopedia of "A Song of Ice and Fire," we learn that Sharako Lohar was an admiral who commanded a fleet of approximately ninety Myrish, Lysene, and Triarchy warships. They were allied with King Aegon II Targaryen during one of the bloodiest naval battles in the history of Westeros.

In "House of the Dragon," Abigail Thorn plays Lohar. The popular British YouTuber has limited acting experience. She previously played a small role in two episodes of the Disney+ series "Star Wars: Acolyte." However, she created a vibrant and expressive character in the HBO production. In one scene, she fights in the mud; in another, she persuades Tyland Lannister to impregnate his wives.

However, viewers are wondering why the series creators changed the gender of the Lysene leader. Showrunner Ryan Condal endeavoured to answer this question at a press conference held after the season two finale of "House of the Dragon."

"We wanted to create this very colourful character. The Triarchy has a long history of these very colourful seafaring pirate types. Even though it was a minor character in the book, if we were going to make such a big deal out of the Greens cutting a deal with their sworn enemy, you wanted to have a character to hang your hat on. It’s not just Tyland. It’s going to be Tyland and his relationship with Sharako and her fleet. Sharako was always envisioned as a female character, period. One-hundred percent," said the showrunner.

"The fun of it is that this character is being interpreted by a modern audience looking into the story and seeing her in a very clear way. Then you have the way that these very backwards Medieval people interpret the presence of this character who is the most powerful military person in the Triarchy, who runs this massive fleet. Though she is a woman, she needs to present herself and be perceived in a certain way in order to lead this very large company of otherwise mostly men," explained Ryan Condal.