Out with the young, in with the slightly older

Episode six of 'House of the Dragon's first season landed on our screens last night and there were some very notable changes right off the bat.

*Be careful, there are spoilers ahead for 'House of the Dragon' episode six*

Events in the series have taken a major time jump - ten years to be precise - and two of the show's major characters looked a little different.

Rhaenyra Targaryen, who was played by fan favourite Milly Alcock, is now played by Emma D'arcy. Her ex-best friend and Queen Alicent Hightower has also gone through a casting change, with Olivia Cooke replacing Emily Carey.

With us only six episodes in to the brand new series, you would think it would be easy to say goodbye to two of the main characters. Not to mention this is a 'Game of Thrones' show where main characters get killed on a semi-regular basis, you would also think we'd be used to this by now.

However, us fans are not the soulless husks we should be after the death and destruction we're so used to in Westeros. Milly Alcock left a huge mark as young Rhaenyra in a short space of time and it's a tough gig for Emma D'arcy to follow.

However, last night's episode proved that D'arcy was well up for the task and their portrayal of Rhaenyra is already winning people over. The first few minutes of this week's episode allowed the incoming actor to bring Rhaenyra from mischievous teen to a tenacious mother in the blink of an eye.

While love-in for Rhaenyra has continued after the changing of the guard, Alicent has taken a bit of a heel turn in her ten years off camera. Enter Olivia Cooke, who has a lot on her plate for this performance.

Alicent is in a precarious position in her role as queen. With her lineage to protect, the paranoia has taken hold and the formerly sweet, innocent character played by Carey has been replaced by a ruthless schemer who will do anything to protect her family.

Using Twitter as a barometer, it looks like Cooke has pulled the role off perfectly. We may even have a new Cersei Lannister on our hands.

Apart from the successful casting change, this week's episode gave us a whole crew of new Targaryen children, which was a bit difficult to keep up with. However, we're too invested to back out now and things are deliciously set up to kick off soon. Next week's episode can't come quick enough.

New episodes of 'House of the Dragon' drop every Monday on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.