SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “House of the Dragon” Season 2 Episode 5, titled “Regent,” now streaming on Max.
After last Sunday’s fiery dragon battle killed off Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) and her dragon Meleys, this week’s episode of “House of the Dragon” slows things down a bit, showing the aftermath of Rook’s Rest.
The battle may have been a win for the greens, but nobody is celebrating in King’s Landing. Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and his soldiers march Meleys’ severed head through the streets, but onlookers are more terrified than impressed by the dead dragon. The troops bring in King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) for medical treatment after he and his dragon Sunfyre were ambushed and severely burned by his brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and his vicious dragon, Vhagar.
Aegon isn’t looking like his usual pretty self. His armor melted into his skin, his bones shattered and the maesters are unsure how long he’ll survive. With his brother comatose, Aemond is next in line for the Iron Throne and becomes prince regent — which may have been his plan all along. He leapfrogs his mother, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who isn’t happy about being skipped in the line of succession.
Across the sea, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) mourns the death of his wife Rhaenys, and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) must strategize after losing the blacks’ largest dragon. Her son Jace (Harry Collett) continues to gather allies, but Rhaenyra doesn’t want to jeopardize her eldest child’s life to battle just yet.
Over in Harrenhal, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) keeps seeing creepy dreams within the haunted castle halls. After being plagued by visions of young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and his late wife Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell), this time he dreams of his mother Alyssa Targaryen — but as he’s having sex with her. The eerie Oedipal episode shows that Daemon harbors resentment over being the younger brother to King Viserys and having not claimed the Iron Throne for himself. At the same time, Rhaenyra realizes she needs Daemon and his dragon for the war, so she sends Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) to bring him home.
The episode ends with Aemond looking ominously at the Iron Throne, Aegon lying pitifully in bed and Jace and Rhaenyra brainstorming how to stop Aemond and Vhagar. The blacks have dragons, but need more riders, so they decide to search for “dragonseeds” — ordinary people with Targaryen blood in their lineage who can mount the beasts. Rhaenyra’s forces are 0-2 against Vhagar, so this may be their only shot to even the odds.
Glynn-Carney didn’t have much to do as Aegon in this episode, since as he was covered in third-degree burns and confined to his bed, but his presence still looms large over Westeros. With Variety, he spoke about his post-battle injuries, Aemond’s betrayal and what’s next for the broken king.
What was it like seeing the makeup and prosthetics for Aegon’s appearance after Rook’s Rest?
The testing stage was long, and took a while to nail what we were gonna go for. Lots of different versions. The one we settled on was gnarly, to say the least.
How did it feel wearing the makeup for the majority of the episode? Was there any point where you discussed waking up for a brief scene? In “Fire & Blood,” Aegon is out for a year, so I was curious the extent to which Aegon will be out of commission?
Well, no, we couldn’t give Aemond a year or two to enjoy his position. We had to speed up time a little bit. But it was great. It was restrictive in all the right ways. It was claustrophobic. It informed the way that I breathe and move and spoke, whenever I did. I was very grateful to be included in the discussion process, from conception stage to the end.
Have you created a new voice for Aegon for when he’s able to speak again?
I didn’t create a new voice. I did a lot of research into how intense heat and burns can affect your vocal folds, and just completely decimate them. Obviously I couldn’t do that to myself, so I had to find a way to replicate it. It was something that I had to definitely consider going into this new stage of Aegon. He has to feel changed, like he’s shifted. And I hope that reads eventually.
In his incapacitated state, does Aegon know Aemond deliberately attacked and burned him? How do you interpret the final scene of Episode 4, when it looks like Aemond is either sheathing his sword when he approaches Aegon, or he’s going in for the kill?
That’s for the audience to decide. I can’t comment on that. I don’t want to tell people what to think. That’s up for grabs.
Aegon and Sunfyre have a beautiful scene together in Episode 4 when he rides him. What level of responsibility does Aegon feel for what happened to his dragon?
He is very important to Aegon. What I enjoyed about that moment was that there was a little bit of a light shown on their relationship to each other, and the vulnerability between the two of them. It’s funny, I have a beautiful golden retriever, and on the day we had that scene, it was as if it were Ziggy, my dog, sort of pushing my chest. It felt like it was him. So any interaction I’m having there with Sunfyre is like having my own dog.
There’s an understanding and appreciation of each other, and they don’t see each other as often as they would like, but there’s probably good reason for that. It lends itself to showing Aegon’s vulnerability and that softer side that I’ve tried to carve out a little bit more of this season.
So Aegon would feel some responsibility for what happened to him?
Of course. It’s like taking your dog for a walk and he gets hit by a car. That’s my fault.
How does taking Aegon off the board affect Alicent and the greens?
Well, from Aegon’s bed, he probably thinks it gives her a little bit more room to be more of a dominant force in the small council. It frees up that seat at the end of the table. I don’t think in Aegon’s bed he’s thinking “Oh, Aemond’s probably going to sit there as prince regent.”
So you don’t think Aegon thought Aemond had intentions of sitting on the Iron Throne? Back in Season 1, there was a moment where Aegon didn’t event want the throne, but Aemond brought him back to serve.
I think that’s where that idea at the start of Season 2 was born, where Aegon is talking about how Aemond’s as loyal as a dog and will attack enemies on command and knows his place within the realm. But that coin can flip at any moment. We’re all dancing on a knife’s edge, and all it takes is one little push from one side. With the volatility that runs in Targaryen blood, there’s always potential for betrayal. But then again, was it intentional? Who the hell knows?
What would Westeros be like with Aemond as king?
He’d be a steel fist, wouldn’t he? I think he’d be quite cutthroat, and a cold king probably. At least from the outset, he’d want people to fear him. He often talks about being bullied as a child, so he probably wants to reinstate himself as a secure, powerful man who won’t be messed with, which could be dangerous in a kingly position.
In Episode 4, Aegon joins the Battle of Rook’s Rest because he feels like he’s getting left out of the council, and he wants to be a good king. He made some questionable decisions, but it seems like he’s trying to do the right thing. How did you play him in those moments?
He wants to be seen as a good king. That’s different to being a good king. It’s about impressions and how he’s perceived. The way I’m playing him is that it’s about how he’s perceived by King’s Landing and Westeros in general. He wants to be seen to be doing the right things. That to me has a sell-by date when he realizes that some of those decisions he’s making don’t serve him.