House Of The Dragon Season 3 Star Reveals The Scene They Feared Filming Most

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for House of the Dragon season 3, episode 2!House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy’s most fearful scene happened in the latest episode.

The actor who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen has revealed which scene they were afraid of filming the most, unpacking the brutal moment for her character. House of the Dragon season 3 has quickly escalated the Dance of the Dragons, with the civil war now claiming a plethora of new victims. This includes Jayce, Rhaenyra’s son, who died during the Battle of the Gullet at the end of season 3, episode 1. The following episode picks up not long after, with Rhaenyra learning of her son’s death.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, D’Arcy revealed the scene where Rhaenyra finds out Jace is dead was the toughest they ever filmed for House of the Dragon season 3. The actor explained how they “dreaded” filming the scene where Rhaenyra learns her son is dead, since the Queen found solace in having children and the familial bond she shared with them. Losing a second son drives a knife into her heart, and opens the door to a loneliness unlike any she’s ever experienced before.

Check out what D’Arcy had to say below:

Often in our job, ironically, the larger the emotional scale, the more fun, the more engaging, the more there is to do.

That was the one that I dreaded this season and was pretty grim actually on the day.

Rhaenyra requires companionship in a really profound way. We have seen her attempt to couple with many different people through the course of the first two seasons. There’s a very beautiful revelation that happens for her when she has children, in discovering, actually, that companionship can be in a mother-child relationship. That’s epitomized by her relationship with Jace. There is a bond there that is strong enough, that overwhelming loneliness is bombed. I think that’s why it’s an insurmountable loss.

I suppose this is the dark side of the coin of a recurring show. These bonds that we make are all so real. There’s a whole parallel constellation of friendships and relationships going on. [Jace actor] Harry [Collett]’s been on the show a long time. He is profoundly loved and he’s a wonderful person and I care about him very deeply. I don’t want to imagine it. I don’t want to imagine it for his character. I don’t want to imagine it for him.

The scene showcasing Rhaenyra’s grief sees her in disbelief at her son’s death. As other House of the Dragon characters learn about what’s happened, they begin to prepare for an even greater push in the war. This leads the Blacks leader to begin a charge for King’s Landing after Aemond and Vhagar’s departure, taking a total of four dragons to the Westeros capital in order to grab the throne. It’s a move spurred not only by her secret dealings with Alicent, but also her grief over losing yet another child to the war.

However, it’s still one of the most memorable moments in the entire show, as Rhaenyra yells accusingly at his body for his decision to lock her away and attend the battle himself. She also aims a finger at everyone who allowed him to go, not wanting heads, but instead to launch a decisive blow on the Greens as revenge. This harkens back to her deal with Alicent for Aegon’s head at the end of House of the Dragon season 2, made more tragic because of her son’s death in between.

Rhaenyra doesn’t yet know the full truth of how Jace died, though. While she can blame the Greens for having killed him directly, it was also somewhat Rhaena Targaryen’s fault. He was trying to chase down her and Sheepstealer, the wild dragon roasting every single boat on the water with its fire, directly leading to Vermax getting shot down. It’s a complex scenario that makes Rhaenyra’s scene with his body all the more tragic, and understandable as to why it was difficult for D’Arcy during filming.

In the aftermath of Jace’s death, Rhaenyra and the Blacks have taken the Iron Throne, with the Queen herself executing Otto Hightower in place of the absent Aegon. With six episodes left this season, it remains to be seen how House of the Dragon will approach her Pyrrhic victory, and how the grief of losing another son will inform her decisions in the fight to come.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Directors

Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel

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  Fabien Frankel

  Ser Criston Cole