House of the Dragon finally has its king.
British actor Paddy Considine will star as King Viserys Targaryen, an ancestor of the smash HBO hit Game of Thrones' Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons.
In the new 10-part TV show, which is based on Game of Thrones author George R R Martin's Fire & Blood and set 300 years before GoT, it charts the reign of the Targaryen family in the Seven Kingdoms. King Viserys is chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal.
Written by Martin as a kind and decent man, King Viserys wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but treachery awaits in every dark corner of Westeros.
And there’s no doubt the Staffordshire-born actor has landed one of Hollywood’s most sought-after roles.
Considine, 47, is best known for his performances as Father John Hughes in Peaky Blinders, Steven Prince in the Simon Pegg comedy The World's End, and as journalist Simon Ross, who tries to get the truth about Operation Treadstone from Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, in The Bourne Ultimatum.
‘Vikings’ star Fimmel rumoured to be in contention
With the leading man now locked in, attention has turned to the other main roles from Martin's books. Leading the pack is Vikings star Travis Fimmel, 41, who plays Norseman Ragnar Lothbrok in the long-running Netflix series.
Rumoured to be in the running to portray Prince Daemon Targaryen, the Australian former model would seem to fit the bill perfectly as the character is a skilled warrior and swordsman.
Veteran GoT director Miguel Sapochnik, who helmed fan-favourite episodes The Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter, will return as co-showrunner alongside Ryan Condal. Condal is penning the script with TV writer Sara Lee Hess, who has written for House, Deadwood and Orange is the New Black.
Although a release date hasn’t yet been confirmed, the series is said to be scheduled to air in 2022.
Main characters still to cast
As befits the cutthroat world Martin has created in his A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the new characters in House of the Dragon are set to be as complex and ambitious as any Lannister could hope to be.
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen: A skilled dragon rider, she is King Viserys's chosen heir to the throne, and has been raised to believe she will become the first ruling Queen of Westeros.
Queen Alicent Hightower: Viserys's ambitious second wife and stepmother to Rhaenyra, she has three children with the king and would like to see one of them on the throne.
Aegon II Targaryen: Princess Rhaenyra's younger half-brother. He challenges Rhaenyra's claim to the throne which starts a civil war in the Seven Kingdoms.
Prince Daemon Targaryen: A skilled warrior and swordsman, he is the brother of King Viserys. He is both the uncle of and husband to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and supports her claim to the throne.
So, get set for 2022. It looks like winter is coming once more.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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