SPOILER ALERT: This story comprises main spoilers from Season 2, Episode 2 of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”
The fallout from “Blood and Cheese” continues in “Home of the Dragon.”
Episode 2 begins with heartbreak in King’s Touchdown when King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) discovers the grisly homicide of his younger son Jaehaerys. He blames Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) for not defending the prince — and as we noticed on the finish of the premiere, Criston was too busy sleeping with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) as a substitute of guarding the fort grounds. Everybody in King’s Touchdown gathers for a somber funeral procession to pay their respects to Jaehaerys, whose head was reattached for the event.
“I bear in mind them being like, ‘Do you need to see the dummy?’ Oh goodness, it was actually fantastically achieved,” Phia Saban, who performs Queen Helaena Targaryen, advised Selection. “They wove gold thread and you possibly can see how the pinnacle was sewn again on the physique. He had all flowers and every thing.”
“It was an incredible prosthetic,” Cooke added. “It was actually intense. Then you definately grow to be a bit numb to the actual fact and we’re simply singing on the again of the carriage between takes.”
Blood, Jaehaerys’ killer, is apprehended, and to deal with his partner-in-crime Cheese, Aegon orders each rat catcher within the metropolis to be hanged. Criston replaces Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) as Aegon’s hand, they start strategizing for struggle and blame Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) for the infanticide.
In Dragonstone, the information surprises Rhaenyra, since she solely needed Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) useless for killing her son Lucerys. She denies having something to do with Jaehaerys’ demise, then realizes her husband Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) should’ve ordered it. The 2 have a tense argument and Daemon storms away on his dragon.
As soon as once more, it’s time for revenge. Criston plots a “Dad or mum Entice”-style twin switcheroo to kill Rhaenyra utilizing the equivalent knights Arryk and Erryk Cargyll (Luke and Elliot Tittensor). Arryk pledged his service to Alicent’s greens, whereas Erryk joined Rhaenyra’s blacks. Arryk disguises himself as his brother and sneaks over to Dragonstone to homicide Rhaenyra with out anybody realizing his true identification. After all, although, issues go flawed when he’s met by the one one that would acknowledge him: Erryk. The 2 brothers keep loyal to their queens and struggle a tearful duel to the demise. It’s arduous to inform who has the higher hand within the sibling scuffle, however Erryk offers a mortal wound to his brother, then apologizes to Rhaenyra and kills himself out of sorrow for what he’s achieved.
With Selection, showrunner Ryan Condal discusses the funeral scene, the Cargyll struggle, some absent e book characters and in the event that they’ll seem sooner or later.
Was I speculated to be afraid that Jaehaerys’ head was going to fall off in the course of the funeral wagon experience? As a result of I used to be!
No, that was not a particular factor we have been on the lookout for. Simply the hazard of shifting a physique via a public sq. like that. It’s a really shifting sequence. Sara Hess pitched that within the room, making a funeral procession a public present and marching Jaehaerys’ physique — and exhibiting the truth that they’d minimize his head off after which stitched it again onto his physique — via the general public sq. as a approach of diminishing Rhaenyra and her declare, to attempt to create a monster out of her. A fantastic Otto Hightower plot that clearly does have some impact to win factors for the greens’ aspect.
In “Fireplace & Blood,” there are a number of accounts of the Cargyll struggle and the way the twins died. How did you select particularly to stage it for the present?
We clearly spent numerous time debating how that struggle would play out. It’s very totally different the best way all of the disagreeing narrators lay out that individual historic occasion within the e book. So we’re simply looking for one which felt true to the 2 characters. These are two guys which have sworn an oath and their lives over to guard the royal household. And as Erryk says to Daemon within the first episode of the season, “We don’t know what to do with this oath, as a result of we swore to guard the royal household, and now they’ve turned towards one another, and what have been we to do?” It’s this tragic story of two brothers discovering themselves on totally different sides of a battle, in a approach, a terrific archetype that goes again to the American Civil Battle and Westerns and Arthurian tales. To attempt to see out his oath, Arryk sails to Dragonstone to attempt to masquerade as his brother and infiltrates the fort and will get very near the queen, however fortunately, Erryk intervenes. We needed this actually emotional battle between these two brothers that deeply love one another however have discovered themselves as mortal enemies due to the character of the political system they’ve dedicated themselves to. It was shot over a number of days, splendidly choreographed, and Luke and Elliott Tittensor carried out that and have been in each shot of that sequence. They realized the struggle they usually executed the hell out of it.
Are you able to break down the distinction between the violent struggle between Daemon and Rhaenyra on the finish of Season 1 and this struggle that leads him to depart?
I feel the tip of Season 1 is a way more sudden and visceral outbreak of emotion, whereas that nice scene in Episode 2 is a full exploration of the core nature of their relationship. It’s this incontrovertible fact that their relationship has been constructed on deceit and distrust via all historical past and time. It’s simply the character of who Daemon is. Rhaenyra desperately desires to have this intimate connection the place she could be very near him and may belief him. However then she finds repeatedly that he doesn’t open himself sufficient or make himself accessible sufficient to be trusted. She actually struggles with that. It’s the identical frustration that Viserys all the time had about Daemon, that you may let him in solely thus far after which he lets folks down due to the impulsiveness of his decision-making. The large lingering questions popping out of that scene is, the place does Daemon go? The place do his allegiances lie and what’s going to occur to this marriage? The rest of the season could be very a lot a examine of Daemon and Rhaenyra’s marriage.
Alicent and Viserys’s different son Daeron is talked about for the primary time on this episode. What selections have you ever made by way of casting him and different key characters from “Fireplace & Blood” who haven’t appeared or been talked about but, like Nettles?
Daeron has not been solid but. I’ve mentioned he’s a personality within the present, however at this level within the story, he’s in Oldtown the place he was warded off as a younger baby. So we don’t have a point-of-view character in that world but and there’s no dramatic cause to go there. This occurred on a regular basis in medieval occasions, significantly within the excessive the Aristocracy. You’d take your youngest youngsters and ward them off to different locations, so that they develop up away from court docket and be taught issues and have their very own place and station on this planet. We all know he’s not but a dragon rider, however he’s had a dragon born to him. So he’ll come to the narrative and have a task to play, simply as he does within the e book — we’re simply not there but within the storytelling.
And Nettles?
With that character, I’m not able to remark but on something that hasn’t been established within the present simply but.
Will the season characteristic the Battles of Rook’s Relaxation and The Gullet?
Properly, that continues to be to be seen. We’re not there but. We’re following the narrative of the e book. I feel there are large thrilling motion sequences to come back that contain dragons and fireplace and blood.
