Kevin Also Blogs: House of the Dragon Post-Mortem of “Second of His Name”

Last night’s episode gave us a time skip, a hunting party, and a beach battle that showed us the internal and external conflicts that have been brewing for House Targaryen during the past 3 years. In “Second of His Name,” Viserys tries to placate both his wife and daughter, Rhaenyra tries to navigate her feelings as his heir and political chess piece, and Daemon tries end a war and prove his worth to his brother. Like Daemon rushing at the Crabfeeder, let’s run straight to today’s interviews and videos!

Speaking with Newsweek, Milly Alcock discusses the wedge driven between Rhaenyra and Alicent in the wake of the latter’s marriage to King Viserys. “I think [their friendship is] really central to the main themes of the show, which is patriarchy and misogyny, because ultimately we explore this very nuanced relationship [and the] internalized misogyny that these two women are forced to combat, but ultimately the demise of their friendship is by choices made by men.” Not just men, but their own fathers – which makes it all the more heartbreaking.

Alcock praises the show for its portrayal of the consequences of living in a patriarchal world. “I think that it’s done a wonderful job of being honest about the pain that these women suffered, and it ultimately makes the audience empathize with that.” She has similar enthusiasm for Rhaenyra, saying, “She’s an incredible character, she’s very lovable in the way that she moves throughout the world…I was captivated, captivated by her, her bravery and her intelligence, and I was honestly a bit intimidated to play someone like that, because I don’t want to f**k it up.” No need to worry about that Milly. You are absolutely crushing it!

Finally, she shares how she got into the right mindset to play Rhaenyra as she evolves from a young teenager and teases where she’s headed as she becomes an adult (at which point she will portrayed by Emma D’Arcy). “I titled each episode and I think that it is accurate of an adolescent hormonal landscape that happens. The first one was tragedy, then betrayal, rage, lust and acceptance.” She adds, “In [episode] one, her life falls apart from being part of massive tragedy, and three she’s just angsty as f**k, and four she’s kind of rebelling, four was rebel [not lust], and five she kind of learns how to play the game, but by her own rules.”

Check out the rest here.

Entertainment Weekly brings us an interview with Steve Toussaint (Corlys) who breaks down the battle of the Stepstones and some of the familial relationships of House Velaryon. We meet Corlys’ brother Vaemond (Wil Johnson), who “never really thinks [Corlys and Rhaenys] should have married, and he doesn’t think we should be in this [Stepstones] battle, in fact. He just thinks we should stay away from the rest of the Targaryen mad set.” That’s probably a wise idea.

Regarding Laenor (who is all grown up now), Toussaint explains that he “is basically everything that Corlys would want from a son, except for one predilection.” That predilection remains to be seen, but Corlys’ reaction to it is “that age-old thing sometimes with parents trying to live a child’s life for them. I think Corlys is guilty of that.” Aren’t all parents at times?

While Corlys may have a tough time dealing with family conflict, he doesn’t shy away from the physical kind. “I think the joy, if that can be the word, in slaughter to him is just that life is simpler here. Here’s somebody coming at me with a sword. I have to take him down or he’ll take me down. That’s it. I don’t have to think about anything else.” Toussaint continues, “In a way, I guess the battle and being at sea are the things for Corlys…I think that’s why he feels at home. I don’t want him to sound like some sort of bloodthirsty tyrant, but I think there is, dare I say, a certain joy in being able to be elemental.”

Head to EW for more.

Episode three was an action packed one for Daemon Targaryen, as he roasted men from dragonback, dodged arrows, and cut down enemies left and right on his way to defeat the Crabfeeder once and for all. Matt Smith tells The New Indian Express that Daemon’s complexity – in addition to the fight scenes – was a big draw for him taking on the role. “I just loved how dark and disturbed he was. He’s a fascinating character. Besides, who wouldn’t want a chance to fly dragons and have sword fights? But, it was the blond wig that sealed the deal.”

Speaking of that wig, Smith laments, “it was a pain to put it on. I have to admit, I didn’t know the wig was going to be such a big thing. Emilia Clarke [Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones] told me years ago about what a chore it was to put on the wig every day. Now I know what she meant. It took me about an hour and a half each day. I have dark hair, so I had to have a bald cap glued on and then they put the wig on over that. It’s a lot, but I think it looks really cool, and I like being blond.” He adds that if he were king, his first decree would be “to allow [the Targaryens] to dye their hair, so I don’t have to get the wig on.”

Daemon’s near fatal decision during the battle comes as a result of the tension between him and his brother Viserys. Smith says that “it’s a complicated relationship. I had such a fabulous time with Paddy Considine, who plays Viserys. Daemon’s relationship with his brother and the depth and richness Paddy and I found in our scenes together are very much the core of our part in this story.” We will likely see how much more complicated that relationship will become in the next episode.

Go here to read the entire article.

Craghas “Crabfeeder” Drahar had a quick and brutal end at the hands of Daemon after just a few appearances, but Daniel Scott-Smith enjoyed his brief time in the role. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he explains, “He’s a nasty character. So as an actor, it’s a dream. It’s nice when you have details, as well, but it’s also nice when it’s a completely open book. That gave us the freedom to do what we wanted with the character.”

That freedom included coming up with a backstory and motivations for the Crabfeeder’s actions. “Craghas Drahar is seen as the bad guy, but for any bad character there’s always got to be a journey of how they got to that point. We [director Greg Yaitanes and Scott-Smith] wanted to remember that there’s two sides to him. So we spoke about the idea of him being a prince, or that he calls himself a prince, so he came from some sort of higher House.” He adds, “We spoke about that and the gradual decline to where he is, how the greyscale might affect him physically, even mentally.”

Scott-Smith shares that the mask Craghas wears is the same as those worn by the Sons of the Harpy in Game of Thrones. “It was definitely a nod to that for, I guess, the fans, because it’s something familiar for them. And we spoke about the idea of him being the first person to wear this mask and it becoming iconic and, therefore, it’s built from that [for Game of Thrones]… Why is he wearing the mask? How does he feel about that? It’s a power statement, so he’s quite happy wearing it.” That happiness fades quickly as Craghas is brutally butchered by Daemon at the episode’s end.

For more on creating the Crabfeeder’s unique look and persona, head to EW.

In this week’s “Inside the Episode,” showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, director Greg Yaitanes, and cast members Milly Alcock, Fabien Frankel, Steve Toussaint, and Matt Smith discuss the family dynamics at play and how the events of this episode set the direction of their characters moving forward.