SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale, titled “The Queen Who Ever Was,” now streaming on Max.
Rather than a destructive battle to end Season 2, “House of the Dragon” closes with a fiery exchange of words between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) that will leave you on the edge of your seats as much as any dragon duel would.
Instead of beginning in Westeros, the Season 2 finale kicks off in Essos, the sandy, pirate-filled continent off to the east. Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) is there to negotiate with the Triarchy to support the Greens in exchange for the Stepstones islands. Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn) agrees to lead the naval fleet, after she beats Tyland in a mud wrestling fight, and they set sail to break the blockade around King’s Landing.
In the city, Prince Regent Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) returns from burning down an entire town with his dragon Vhagar. His sister Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and mother Alicent are appalled at what he’s done, and even more so when he demands Helaena take flight on her dragon Dreamfyre to aid in the war. Alicent stands up for her daughter, who reveals that she knows Aemond severely burned their brother King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) during the Battle of Rook’s Rest.
And Aegon is not doing well. He can barely walk, he’s depressed and he can’t pee without urine running down his leg. His master of whisperers, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), suggests they flee to Braavos and live off their remaining gold, so that Aegon can triumphantly return and rise from the ashes later on. Miles away — but like Aegon after Rook’s Rest — Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) is also a broken man. He’s shell-shocked after narrowly surviving a dragon attack, and believes that his army is marching toward fiery annihilation. Alicent’s brother Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) knows that Criston has been breaking his Kingsguard vows by sleeping with his sister, and Criston admits his desire for women has brought him nothing but grief.
Throughout this season, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has had some creepy, cameo-filled visions while in Harrenhal, but this episode features the most surprising ones. The witch Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) brings Daemon to a weirwood tree, where he has visions of the upcoming “Game of Thrones” future. He sees Brynden Rivers — better known as the Three-Eyed Raven, later played by Max von Sydow — White Walkers from beyond the Wall and a glimpse of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen with her three baby dragons. Daemon also sees himself drowning, Rhaenyra sitting on the Iron Throne, a dead dragon and a pile of corpses. The vision ends with Helaena staring back at him, telling him he must play his part in the grand Westeros story. Back in King’s Landing, Helaena simultaneously snaps out of her vision when she’s interrupted by Aemond. She tells him of his impending doom from being swallowed up by the Gods Eye and that Aegon will be king again.
The vision scares Daemon enough that he’s convinced he must bend the knee to Rhaenyra, and pledge his army and support to the Blacks. Finally, in Dragonstone, Alicent pays Rhaenyra a secret visit during which she begs her to end the war. After Aemond fired her from the small council, Alicent has come to her senses, and she’s done with scheming and plotting. She tells Rhaenyra the Black forces can conquer King’s Landing in three days while Aemond is away at war with Criston. She even says that Rhaenyra can kill Aegon to fully take power. The two share a tense, tearful reunion, but it’s unclear whether Alicent will keep her word — and if Rhaenyra completely trusts her.
Before we can see the outcome of their conversation, the Green and Black forces prepare for all-out war. The Lannisters join the Greens, the Triarchy ships face the Velaryon fleet and Starks march south to join the fight. Larys and Aegon also sneak away from King’s Landing in a wagon, and we see Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) locked away in a dungeon somewhere. Plus, there are two more dragons in play: Daemon’s daughter Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) discovers a lost dragon named Sheepstealer, and the large blue dragon Tessarion flies over the Green army. Tessarion belongs to Daeron Targaryen, Alicent’s son who has yet to appear on the show but has been away in Oldtown the whole time. It seems like Season 3 will finally introduce this missing Targaryen, and we’ll get even more dragon-tastic battles.
In an interview with Variety, Geeta Vasant Patel — who also directed Episode 3 from this season — explains creating Daemon’s cameo-filled vision, shooting Rhaenyra and Alicent’s emotional conversation, introducing the two new dragons and much more.
A lot of fans were expecting a big battle episode since this is the season finale, but this was much more about intense conversations and shifting alliances. How did this episode fit the mold of what you were expecting to do for the finale?
I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if it would be a battle or something else. I probably expected a battle, just as a fan. Then when I read the script, I was pleasantly surprised and happy, because I think we put too much on battles. I think what’s really interesting about this episode is that it’s about relationships. It’s the dialogue, the twists and turns, the relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra, and Rhaenyra and Alicent. For me, it was quite thrilling to focus on the dramaturgy. I love that. I was excited to dig deep with this. I definitely felt the challenge if people are expecting a big battle, how is this going to compete with it? But having done Episode 8 from Season 1, I knew that if we executed the script it would be grand.
You also directed Episode 3 from this season, which had the secret conversation between Rhaenyra and Alicent in the church. How did you want their scene together in the end of the finale to build upon that previous episode?
We made sure that the scenes between them in Episodes 3 and 8 had an organic storytelling to them, and that there was a rising action between the two of them. We were constantly going back and forth, tweaking this and that — so that those two scenes had a really direct relationship.
We shot that scene at the end of Episode 8 pretty much at the end of the production season. There were two things that were really important: We wanted it to feel like Rhaenyra and Alicent were children again, because that is what that scene was really about. Olivia and Emma did a really great job of bringing that juvenile, fearful, innocent aspect to the scene, where they wrestled between what they know they’re supposed to do and what they’re feeling that’s irrational. The other thing is we wanted to make sure that the scene in Episode 3 was on their minds. They’re like a divorced couple that still loves each other. When you see an ex, it’s almost as if that fight you had, or what they did to you, is fresh in your mind and just happened five minutes ago. We wanted it to be that razor’s edge feeling when we entered this scene between the two of them. They really pushed and pulled each other in a way that I wasn’t sure how they were going to end it.
After their conversation, it seems like there’s still some doubt about whether Alicent is telling the truth to Rhaenyra, or if Rhaenyra fully believes her. How do you interpret that scene and where they leave things?
The actors keep their interpretations very close. That’s the beauty of them coming into the scene in that way. They’re not giving away something that they themselves as characters may not know yet. When we shot it, the most important thing was to know where the shift was in the scene, and that was when Rhaenyra says, “A son for a son.” She’s saying that because she previously says, “You’ve never sacrificed anything, Alicent. You want all this stuff, but you want your cake and to eat it, too.” When I was studying that scene, the first thing I did was I went to the bookend of it, which is Episode 1. The very first scene that Ryan Condal wrote was a voiceover about how we have to sacrifice for duty. If we’re going to treat this like a film, that is the theme of this entire film. This scene needed to focus on that.
There is a moment where Rhaenyra says, “OK, you’re gonna have to sacrifice. If you want something, give up your son.” I think that moment is real and true. When Alicent says, “Yes, you can have my son,” she is giving up her son. The surprise is in the montage later when Aegon has escaped. What’s going to happen now? When Rhaenyra finds out that Aegon left, is she going to interpret that as something that was pre-planned? Is she going to blame Alicent? What is what does that mean for Alicent?
We meet two brand new dragons in this episode, when Tessarion swoops down over the army and Rhaena comes face to face with Sheepstealer. All the dragons have such distinct looks and feels, how did you create these two introductions?
For the shot you’re talking about where the dragon came up across the people and swooped down, that was just a shot in my head when I read the script. There was something scary but also introductory about it. We have an extraordinary visual effects department that creates each of the dragons’ looks and sounds and feels. They each have personalities. It’s almost like these are actors we’re going to work with. I knew that this dragon needed to bring Rhaena to open eyes — just complete, “Oh my gosh, I’m looking at a dragon!” This was her dream, and she’s the only one who didn’t have a dragon. It was a very big moment for her.
I would kind of equate it as when I first got this show. It had been my dream for eight years. I remember when I got the job, it was just this overwhelming feeling because I wanted it for so long. It wasn’t a coincidence that I got it, I pushed so hard. I related to Rhaena in that moment. You want something so bad and everyone’s telling you that you can’t get it. The shot that I saw immediately in my head with that scene was the big, wide shot of the dragon and little Rhaena. That was David and Goliath.
There are some surprising “Game of Thrones” cameos with Daemon’s vision where he sees Daenerys, the Night King and the Three-Eyed Raven. When you read the script for that scene, how did you go about making the look for this vision?
I was so honored that I would get to be part of executing that. When I received the script, all these beats of the visuals were listed, but there was space for direction. You have to figure out how all those things are going to flow together. You see Daenerys, but how do you see her? Do you see her face? What is she doing? I thought the dragons coming out of her in shadow would be really interesting because it’s not about Daenerys, it’s about the story of history. We’re in Daemon’s point of view, so that vision had to tell the story to Daemon of the history of his people and that Rhaenyra needed to be on the throne. It’s very tempting to be like, “Let’s show Daenerys! Let’s zoom in on this!” But that’s not what it’s about. In fact, Daemon doesn’t know who she is. It has to make Daemon understand that he has to bend the knee to Rhaenyra willingly.
The cameos are great nostalgia and fan-service, but they also serve a storytelling purpose for Daemon. How did you balance those two things?
I was very focused on, “If this is going to be in this vision, what purpose does it play? What part of the story is it telling? How much do we need to tell the story? Let’s not think at all about the fact that this is a fan favorite.” That was really what I tried to do in putting together the storyboards for this, and then executing those. That’s why you don’t see a lot of extra stuff. There could have been, but that’s not the point. If we don’t focus on the point of the story, it just becomes a montage that has no meaning.
Daemon also sees himself drowning in his vision, and right after that scene we see Helaena tell Aemond that he will be swallowed up by the Gods Eye. Fans of the book know what that moment is foreshadowing — but what can you say about shooting that scene? Will we see that vision play out in Season 3?
I can get in trouble if I reveal anything. I will say that when we shot that scene, it was amazing. We had a huge stage, and created these stations. Each station was a moment of that vision. For the drowning, I had wanted a tank, but we didn’t have enough money for an actual tank with water. When I got the storyboards done, somebody in the meeting was like, “What if it’s dragon’s blood instead of water? That’s amazing!”
So we darkened the water into blood, and we ended up shooting it dry for wet — there’s no water actually. It’s just Matt Smith hanging from a rig with fans blowing on him so it looks like he’s underwater. It was really amazing executing all those moments. The roots of the tree that start the whole sequence of the vision, those were built and then brought to life as visual effects. I really wanted to feel like an umbilical cord. They brought that to life so they were gooey and alive.
When you shot the Night King moment, was it the same costume from “Game of Thrones” just laying around in storage somewhere?
They told me, but I don’t remember. I have a worst memory! I think they did have some left over from “Game of Thrones,” I’m almost positive. It was exciting to shoot that, too. The actor who played the Night King — and he was not the actual Night King, he just played one of them — he was so great. He knew how to move like them. Everybody came down to the set that day to watch us shoot it. Most people who work on this show are fans of “Game of Thrones,” so everybody was lined up watching us do these takes.
We also see Otto Hightower locked up in a dungeon somewhere. Where is he?
I was asked to shoot that scene. I want to know where he is, too. I don’t know! Those guys talk about a lot of things in the writers’ room, and then they don’t tell us. They don’t tell any of us! They don’t tell the actors, either. I don’t think it’s fair.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
