A Song of Ice and Fire has once again been dominating airwaves with the release of HBO’s House of the Dragon, which drew in 9.986 million viewers in the United States across all of HBO’s platforms when it premiered. This makes it the largest audience for any new original series for HBO. Much has been said about the Game of Thrones spinoff, from everyone obsessing over Matt Smith (rightfully so) to the questionable callbacks constantly being made regarding the disaster that was the final season of Thrones, audiences have been transported to a time when the Targaryens were at the height of their power—and with half the cast sporting their signature silver hair, viewers are seemingly taking inspiration.
Since the premiere, weekly internet searches for silver hair in the U.S. have more than doubled. Hair experts from CLOUD NINE reveal that search interest for “silver hair” has surged by 5200% in the U.S. alone.
A stylist from the company comments, “Silver hair is set to have another resurgence. The style has proven that it can be suited to any age and works across a number of complexions.” The hashtag #Targaryenhair has also since amassed over 89k views on TikTok.
The Targaryens are, of course, not the only silver-haired family on the show, with the introduction of the Velaryons. Although they are not dragonriders like the Targaryens, the Velaryons came with them from Old Valyria and, as such, also sport silver locks. After facing backlash for the lack of diversity in the original series, George R.R. Martin himself decided to correct this mistake by race-bending the Velaryons in series, which was a great choice but has since raised the question of whether or not this new show can fully handle all the complexities that will come with it.
Fans have raised the issue of the bad wigs, in particular, that some of the actors playing members of the Velaryon family are currently using, which says a lot about the apparent lack of education regarding Black hair on set. Will you be switching up your hairstyle in honor of House of the Dragon? Let us know in the comments!
(featured image: HBO)
