Sex Education Season 1 featured Game of Thrones' Hannah Waddingham (Septa Unella of "Shame!" bell fame) as Jackson's mom, and Season 2 boasts yet another Game of Thrones cameo. Sex Education's Dex is played by Lino Facioli, who viewers will likely remember as Robin Arryn, the bratty and disturbingly milk-inclined cousin of Sansa Stark, who achieved meme status in the final episode with his sudden glow-up.
In the last episode of Game of Thrones, Facioli's Robin Arryn attends the Great Council, but he isn't actually ever addressed onscreen by name, which left many viewers feeling baffled about who the random (and surprisingly handsome) young man was. Once fans realized it was Facioli though, the internet freaked out, with a TVGuide article proclaiming that Facioli "Neville Longbottom-ed us."
Facioli took the fame and thirst tweets in stride, telling Vulture, "To be honest, I’m still taking it all in. My parents are just … we were laughing, we were like, 'This is hilarious, this is crazy.' I’ve got friends being like, ‘You’ve got memes about you, man.’ That’s their definition of fame."
Facioli's Sex Education character Dex is way less royal than his Game of Thrones counterpart, but he's bound to leave an impression regardless. Dex is the leader of the Quiz Heads, Moordale's high school quiz bowl team, whose goal is to make it to the televised final competition. Standout new character Vivian (Chinenye Ezeudu) has a major crush on him, so Jackson tries to set the two of them up, in exchange for Vivian teaching Jackson Shakespeare for a play. (Long story.)
It's through Vivian that we learn the most about Dex. She knows he's the "34th fastest Rubik's Cuber in the world." He likes "BBQ flavored Doritos," and he "bites his bottom lip when he thinks about something really difficult." Vivian amusingly points out that Dex has spoken to her "exactly 26 times, using a total of 556 words." She also knows he works at Pegasus Hobbies and Games on the weekend — where he's super into Dungeons and Dragons type games, which I refuse to take as anything other than a Game of Thrones reference.
Unlike Robin, Dex is a giant nerd, basically, but Vivian, who's on the Quiz Heads with him, really likes him regardless. (Dex, meanwhile, thinks her name is Bev.) Jackson and Vivian's machinations work, and Dex ends up giving Vivian his number, much to the pair's glee.
Though Dex exists mostly in service to Vivian's story, Facioli has an easy chemistry with Ezeudu regardless. The two of them make Viv and Dex's awkward conversations look so natural and effortless, and their interactions are one of the many highlights of Season 2.
It's not all rainbows and roses for Vivian and Dex though. Though Vivian is successful in winning him number, their shortlived relationship hits the rocks when she realizes Dex is too much of a geek, and he's pretty unwilling to talk about anything that isn't cube-shaped with six colors and six sides.
We won't spoil what happens in the final episodes, but eventually Dex shows his true colors, proving perhaps he isn't too different from the selfish Robin Arryn after all.
