Rhaenyra and Daemon take the Iron Throne

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 2 of “House of the Dragon,” now streaming on HBO Max.

Fans of “House of the Dragon” have had a week to come to terms with the death of Jace Targaryen (Harry Collett), but at the top of this week’s episode of the prequel “Game of Thrones,” his tragic passing was brand new information for his queen and mother, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). And she understandably didn’t take it well.

In fact, Rhaenyra was so devastated by the death of another son — this one her heir — that she repeatedly demanded his dead body respond to her when she was first confronted with the news in Episode 2, Season 3 of the “Game of Thrones” prequel.

“I think the truth is that for Rhaenyra it is an insurmountable loss, and it is a reality too terrible to take into account,” D’Arcy said. Variety. “So the first feeling, the first instinct, is a kind of total denial and an attempt to push back against that dawning terrible reality. It was a tough day at work.”

D’Arcy said there was “only one scene” this season that they were “afraid to shoot”, and that was the moment when Rhaenyra breaks from reality by trying to contact Jace’s corpse.

“There’s this strange part of our work, which is that there’s this kind of company, this soft mirror between story and lived experience,” they said. “And when you shoot something like that, it means letting go of a very dear member and friend of the cast – and besides, it’s painful to imagine those things. And you really have no choice but to commit to that, at least for the period that you’re shooting the film.”

D’Arcy said their co-star Collett “was absolutely beautiful that day” as they helped them prepare for the scene.

“We didn’t really talk in the morning, and he gave me a really wide space, and then he was so lovely at lunch, he kind of came up to me and said, ‘Hey, sorry, I wasn’t sure, I thought maybe you just wanted a little space, I thought I’d give you that space, but I’m also here if you want anything,'” D’Arcy said. “And I’m constantly amazed and very moved by actors and their intuition, and their care and their professionalism – so that’s very beautiful.”

Learning of Jace’s death is just the beginning of the trials Rhaenyra faces in this episode: the hour begins with the aftermath of the Battle of the Esophagus (in which Jace was killed), and ends with Alicent (Olivia Cooke) coming before Rhaenyra, sitting on the Iron Throne, looking down on the bloody, decapitated body of Alicent’s father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), just after Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra has taken over the Red Keep.

The episode ends with Rhaenyra looking completely mortified at the idea of ​​explaining to Alicent what happened, as Alicent had appointed Rhaenyra to take over King’s Landing and thus the Iron Throne from Alicent’s son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), but wasn’t expecting this. The tentative alliance between Rhaenyra and Alicent at the end of Season 2, when Alicent reluctantly gave in to Rhaenyra’s insistence that she must kill Aegon in order to properly take the crown, could be completely dissolved depending on how Alicent responds to this choice.

“Rhaenyra still considers Alicent her judge and jury, no matter how polarized their views have become,” D’Arcy said. “I think because they were friends – best friends – in childhood, and because they were so close at the time of Rhaenyra’s mother’s death, I think there was some kind of transference. Ultimately, I still think Rhaenyra craves Alicent’s affirmation. So to be so far removed from Alicent’s kindness and affirmation is really grim. And just like those long relationships in which we observe each other throughout our lives, Rhaenyra sees something of herself from the outside: pretty much everything that has happened before.

Whether Alicent agrees or not, Rhaenyra makes a compelling case for why they had to kill Otto when Daemon discovered he was being held captive in the prison beneath King’s Landing. And why Rhaenyra had to muster up the courage to cut off his head herself in front of the guards before taking the Iron Throne.

“I think Rhaenyra has been in a two-season battle with peers and subjects alike to be recognized and respected as a potential reigning queen,” D’Arcy said. “This is an example of having to present it as something that is familiar to a patriarchal idea of ​​power. And whether that is a line that she should have crossed morally and ethically, and whether that is a departure from herself or a step in the direction, is for the audience to determine.”

D’Arcy and Smith spent most of Season 2 of ‘House of the Dragon’ filming scenes away from the center of the action in King’s Landing, as their constituency, the Blacks, were no longer in power, and Rhaenyra and Daemon were busy strengthening their allies elsewhere. So it was a homecoming to return to the palace prepared to shoot down their cautious but cutting infiltration of the Red Keep.

“It was interesting, that day was – because we hadn’t really been on that set yet either – we were kind of like coming home in a way, because it’s kind of ours,” Smith said. “They’ve got all this gunk on the walls and stuff. It looks like crap. I’d have that straight down, taking that off the walls. All that damn big religious stuff. So there was this kind of life-imitating-art-and-art-informing-life feeling and all that stuff going on, which was entertaining to me.”

D’Arcy added, “I couldn’t agree more. Even within the studio complex that we’re filming, the Red Keep is the kind of power center. And I was in exile on the Dragonstone set for a season, and so it’s nice to be back at the heart of things. And Rhaenyra and Daemon operate as one organism in that homecoming.”

Although Daemon has been firmly supporting Rhaenyra since pledging his loyalty to his wife and queen at the end of season 2, he recently made a mistake that could soon cost her dearly. At the end of this second episode of Season 3, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) encounters Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) as he takes Harrenhal while Rhaenyra and Daemon are busy taking King’s Landing. And based on how Daemon rejected Alys’ request to grant Harrenhal as a reward for her support of Rhaenyra’s side, it seems like Alys is willing to switch sides in an attempt to get a better deal.

Will this turn into a tragic mistake that Daemon will soon regret?