Why 'House of the Dragon' Referenced the Muppets and Probably Will Again

Viewers are raving about HBO's hit series House of the Dragon, but only the most dedicated fans may have noticed that last Sunday's episode included a Muppets reference.

The Sesame Street-HOTD crossover stems back to George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, which serves as the basis for House of the Dragon. A Sesame Street character's name was dropped amid a council meeting, Polygon noted.

In Episode 6, titled "The Princess and the Queen," Lyonel Strong mentions a borderland disagreement between the Bracken and Blackwood houses. Then, Queen Alicent inquires: "Why hasn't Lord Grover Tully stepped in?"

Grover, of course, is also the name of a blue furry monster from the long-running children's show Sesame Street. But the fact that a character in House of the Dragon bears the same moniker isn't just a coincidence.

Martin's Fire & Blood features several other nods to Sesame Street, too. Polygon noted that Lord Grover Tully's grandson is named Elmo, who will eventually come to father two kids called Oscar and Kermit.

Polygon further reported that Martin had a bit of cheeky fun when writing about the Muppets-themed Tully family, which spans generations. The fantasy author wrote that Oscar possesses a sort of "prickly pride," and he classified Kermit's tenure as a soldier as "green":

Then as now, the riverlords were a fractious, quarrelsome lot. Kermit Tully, Lord of Riverrun, was their liege lord, and nominally commander of their host...but it must be remembered that his lordship was but nineteen years of age, and 'green as summer grass,' as the northmen might say. His brother Oscar, who had slain three men during the Muddy Mess and been knighted on the battlefield afterward, was still greener, and cursed with the sort of prickly pride so common in second sons.

Den of Geek reported that, back in 2017, two of Martin's co-authors verified that Fire & Blood's Muppet names were 100 percent intentional. Now, many fans are hoping that House of the Dragon will remain committed to the bit and introduce the remainder of the Tully family as they appear in the book.

As early as last year, some on social media wondered how the series would choose to address the Tully family.

"Very curious to see if House of the Dragon cowardly chooses to rename Grover, Elmo, and Kermit Tully, or if they take the bold and noble course of action and allow a very serious HBO drama to feature three characters very obviously named after Muppets," Twitter user @KLo1012 wrote at the time.

Newsweek has reached out to Sesame Street for comment. A representative for HBO declined to comment.