Laenor Velaryon’s True Replacement In House Of The Dragon Season 3 Teased By Returning Star

Ahead of the House of the Dragon season 3 premiere, star Steve Toussaint teases who Laenor Velaryon’s true replacement in the family really is.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Toussaint revealed that his character, Lord Corlys Velaryon, sees himself in his son Alyn, despite his offspring being illegitimate.

There was a scene during House of the Dragon season 2 where Corlys praised Addam for being a dragonrider and figuring out a way to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Now Corlys looks at Alyn and hopes for the same outcome, recognizing that child as Laenor’s true replacement.

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Alyn does not want a “helping hand in his steadfastness,” according to Toussaint, who adds that his character is ready to recognize Alyn as his son. While he expects Alyn to be grateful for the acknowledgment, the reaction is instead one filled with anger, saying something along the lines of, “No, I don’t need you. Where were you 20 years ago?“

As a result, Corlys is forced to “reassess what is important, and what is important is not the trinkets and that stuff,” explained Toussaint. “It is about being there.” The actor believes that Corlys is “on his way to learning that lesson.“

“The great thing about Alyn and the great thing about Corlys is that Corlys sees himself in Alyn, in Alyn’s refusal to take a helping hand in his steadfastness. Because what Corlys would expect is that he sort of goes, ‘All right, now I’m ready to acknowledge you as my son.’ And he expects Alyn to go, ‘Oh, thank god. Great. Yeah.” But no, Alyn’s like, ‘H*** no, I don’t need you. Where were you 20 years ago?’ And so that forces, I think, Corlys to reassess what is important, and what is important is not the trinkets and that stuff. It is about being there. And I hope that he’s on his way to learning that lesson and I think he is.”

This is coming at a time in his life when Corlys has faced a lot of loss in the family. His wife, Rhaenys Targaryen, has died, and Laenor is presumed gone after faking his own death in season 1. When Rhaenys was still alive, Corlys felt “truly himself and unguarded.” Now he feels lost without her presence.

Corlys has spent so long focused on his legacy, especially on “getting the family close to the throne” and “securing their future and making sure the Velaryon name continues.” He doesn’t want the familial line to end with him.

“I think, of course, to lose a child is a terrible thing, and it is for him, but I think the more seismic change for him is losing his wife. Because when he lost his children, of course, he had his wife, although he did go and disappear to the sea for a few years because that’s the kind of guy he is. But I often say that the one time that Corlys is really truly himself and unguarded, the only times that ever happens are with his wife. And with her gone now, he doesn’t have that. When we meet Corlys at the beginning of season 1 and through season 2 up until her demise, he’s all about legacy. He’s all about getting the family close to the throne. He’s all about securing their future and making sure the Velaryon name continues because of what he’s done. He doesn’t want it to just end with him.”

Now at this point, amid this loss, he’s faced with the task of doing right by his two illegitimate sons, which Rhaenys wanted him to do. Before she died, she told him, “These boys need to be raised up. They are your kids. It’s not their fault. It’s you,” recounted Toussaint. There is a guilt weighing upon Corlys after the decisions he’s made, and Alyn and Addam are the consequences.

Towards the end of House of the Dragon season 2, Alyn opened up to his father about what it was like to “grow up in the shadow of this house and seeing my dad in there who I was not good enough for him to acknowledge.” Hearing that was like a gut-punch to Corlys, but the Lord of Driftmark has now recognized that both Addam and Alyn are “very capable young men.”

Regardless of whether Corlys “intervene[s] in their lives, they will still be fine,” he knows that it’s up to him to make sure his lineage can continue with those two, despite the circumstances that brought them into the world.

“I think when we meet him in the beginning of this season and certainly towards the end of the last season, he realizes, first of all, he’s got these two illegitimate sons that he has to do right by. And that’s again at the prompting of his wife. One of the last things she says to him is, ‘These boys need to be raised up. They are your kids. It’s not their fault. It’s you.’

“And so then she’s gone, and as a tribute to her and also for himself, that feeling of guilt. Because there’s a moment at the end of season 2 when Alyn tells him exactly—he just offloads how it’s felt to grow up in the shadow of this house and seeing my dad in there who I was not good enough for him to acknowledge. And I think that hurts somewhere deep inside of Corlys.

“And at the same time, these are two very capable young men. They are making their way. If Corlys doesn’t intervene in their lives, they will still be fine. But I guess like all of us, I suppose—I don’t have children, but I imagine that if I did, my duty is to equip my children to do the best they can in the world and then they go out there and they do it. And if I can help them, of course I will.”

House of the Dragon season 3, which premieres June 21, will include epic clashes, including during the Battle of the Gullet, a highly anticipated moment for viewers. But at the end of the day, the series is still a family drama, and as Toussaint told ScreenRant, the upcoming eight episodes will continue to show the ramifications of the choices that Corlys has made in his life.

Toussaint’s co-stars on House of the Dragon are Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Olivia Cooke, Matthew Needham, Harry Collett, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ewan Mitchell, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Abubakar Salim and Clinton Liberty.

New cast members this season include James Norton, Tommy Flanagan, Dan Fogler, Tom Cullen, Joplin Sibtain, Barry Sloane, and Annie Shapero.

House of the Dragon season 3 premieres Sunday, June 21, at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

HBO

Directors

Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel

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  Fabien Frankel

  Ser Criston Cole