Showrunner Ryan Condal talks about realizing the Winter Wolves on screen.

Tommy Flanagan on Roddy the Ruin’s House of the Dragon debut: ‘All he wants to do is die this glorious death’ (exclusive)

Showrunner Ryan Condal talks about realizing the Winter Wolves on screen.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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May 26, 2026 2:00 p.m. ET

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Tommy Flanagan's Roddy the Ruin before the Winter Wolves on 'House of the Dragon' season 3. Credit:

Theo Whiteman/HBO

- Tommy Flanagan tees up the arrival of Ser Roderick Dustin and the Winter Wolves on *House of the Dragon*.

- "They couldn't kill him in battle, and all he wants to do is die this glorious death," the *Sons of Anarchy* vet says.

- Showrunner Ryan Condal was pondering "who wanted to do some light murder on premium television" when casting the role.

With these words, Roddy the Ruin and his Winter Wolves arrive on *House of the Dragon*: "We have come to die for the dragon queen!"

Tommy Flanagan (*Sons of Anarchy*) makes his debut as Ser Roderick Dustin on season 3 of the *Game of Thrones* prequel drama, and both the actor and showrunner Ryan Condal have a gut feeling he'll swiftly become a fan favorite.

"He's this old, ferocious warrior," Flanagan tells **. "They couldn't kill him in battle, and all he wants to do is die this glorious death. A lot of this is really brutal, [but] there's a lot of humor in it. It's this whole one note: My mission is just to kill, destroy, save the queen, save the kingdoms. It just dragged me in."

Ser Roderick is the head of House Dustin in the timeline of *House of the Dragon*. As described in the pages of George R. R. Martin's *Fire & Blood*, he earned the nickname Roddy the Ruin for being "so old and hoary." He leads an army of northmen called the Winter Wolves, all berserker warriors, all much older men, all supporters of Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her claim to the Iron Throne.

Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen on 'House of the Dragon' season 3.

Kevin Baker/HBO

"I think they feel guilty that they've survived so long, and they get this opportunity to come down to the south and kick ass," Flanagan notes.

Condal didn't have a particular actor in mind when writing the role of Ser Roderick. The series co-creator recalls, "I was looking at these stately British actors and wondering who we could rough up and who wanted to do some light murder on premium television." It was casting director Kate Rhodes James who suggested the Scottish gent from *Gladiator*, *Peaky Blinders*, and *Bravehart*.

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"It's hard to find British actors that haven't been a Westerosi character yet," Condall continues. "You have to find people that were on another television show during the long run of the original *Game of Thrones* [and] were too busy so we can get them or, in our case now, people that were too young to be in the show."

Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, and Emma D'Arcy for EW's 'House of the Dragon' season 3 cover shoot.

Flanagan was busy riding motorcycles on *Sons of Anarchy* and didn't have much knowledge about *Game of Thrones* when he met with Condal for *House of the Dragon*. So Condal found a different touchpoint to help the actor wrap his head around the character. "He's basically a Viking warrior who has passed his prime and has the choice of probably dying in a long and difficult winter, or he can get sent south to battle and go to Valhalla," the showrunner remembers saying in that meeting.

Flanagan was sold. "He's hacking and slashing, but no one can f---ing kill him, and he just gets more and more frustrated by it," he says. "So the more frustrated he gets, the more ferocious he gets, and then the more un-killable he becomes. 'For f--- sake, somebody f---ing kill me!'"

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In that spirit, Flanagan posits that Roddy might be the most fun he's had with character to date. "As soon as you got that armor on and the hair and the beard...there was no acting required," he adds.

*House of the Dragon* season 3 premieres June 21 on HBO. Learn more about what's in store from EW's exclusive cover story.

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Source: “EW Sci-Fi”