[♪ pensive music playing]
[Vanja Cernjul]
It was some time,
I think in November,
Andrij called me,
and, uh, asked me,
"Do you want to come back
and do something spectacular?"
And I was like,
"Yes, of course!"
I spent Season Two with Vanja,
and what he does as
a cinematographer is amazing.
It was really special
to have Vanja back.
[Ryan Condal]
This is our finale.
We wanted to go
out with a bang.
In many ways,
Tumbleton is an indicator
of the things to come
in the Dance of the Dragons.
[Rowley Irlam]
Okay, here we go!
Everyone ready?
And, three, two, one.
Action!
[fire whooshing]
[♪ thrilling music playing]
We can make-- We can make
the start line here.
[crew member] Oh, hello, sir.
You jump on the, uh,
on the, uh, stake marked
there, please.
Tommy will walk to there
with the guys.
Then they'll all--
They all take, like four steps.
Yeah.
-[♪ dramatic music playing]
-[soldiers shouting]
[Ryan] I mean, this is
the ultimate culmination
of Ormund's gambit.
And I think he's--
he's played it to the very end.
Ulf hasn't reported.
And he's not with his dragon.
[Ryan] Now the Rivermen
have shown up at their gates
and they're gonna go in.
This is a good, proper,
old medieval siege.
[Andrij Parekh]
The art department
kindly sent me a 1/100 scale
model of Tumbleton.
[Vanja]
First thing we did,
we bought little, uh,
figurines.
And we were like playing
like two kids
with this model of Tumbleton.
And we're planning how
we want to approach,
uh, each particular scene.
[Ryan]
It was months of crafting
storyboards and previs
and showing it to me,
and we very much assembled
the battle in prep,
and were able to plan
and shift things
based on how we were
seeing it come together.
Jim Clay and his team
built this incredible set
on our backlot.
We had an incredible location,
Hankley Common in Surrey,
to marry it to.
[Dominic Masters]
Jim's great idea of putting
these farmhouses there
really locked everything
into a landscape,
and you had a definitive focus
for playing the scenes
around that.
Lord, knights,
savages and cutthroats!
[soldiers laughing]
Whether you live or die today
you will be remembered
in the histories
as those who began
the Hightowers' end!
[Andrij]
For Daemon's speech,
we really wanted to have
a sort of Braveheart moment
where he rallies and inspires
not only the troops,
but the audience.
[slate claps]
I don't want the best of you!
I want the worst!
[soldiers cheering]
[Andrij] It's about
the sort of magnitude,
but also about the intimacy.
So, getting those wide shots,
but also being in close enough
with the camera
to feel Daemon's emotion.
Go now.
And k*ll them.
[soldiers shouting]
Was that fun, Matt?
It was, mate, yeah.
[camera operator] Paul, what
are we doing today, Paul?
We're doing-- We're running
up the hill with Hugh,
with Chris on focus.
The action's that way, guys.
[♪ plucky music playing]
[Paul Slavin]
Okay, speeding and set.
Here we go.
And, three, two, one.
Action!
Go!
[Kieran Bew]
The Surrey "Tumbleton" part
was very open and expansive.
And probably one of my
favorite days sh**ting is,
you know, joining a battle
on an open field.
[Paul] Action!
Action!
[♪ plucky music continues]
[Kieran]
The costume is stunning.
I have discovered
over the years filming,
it is incredibly heavy.
We've done six takes so far.
So... [chuckles]
I expect to do--
We're gonna probably do--
How many?
At least 25 more.
Yeah, it was a few goes at that.
And I seem to remember
it was just before lunch.
[laughing]
And everyone was
getting really hungry
and it's like, come on,
hurry up, so...
[Rowley]
...away from the ladder
as possible.
And then, literally,
Bradley can watch that camera,
and as Tommy's halfway,
start the climbing,
he'll be at the top
of the ladder
when Tommy comes up.
-Start there.
-Yeah, just give us a--
-Shield back.
-Just rile the troops.
Again. Yeah?
[Rowley] Everybody ready?
And, three, two, one.
-Action!
-[actors shouting]
[♪ slow, dramatic music playing]
[Andrij]
So, this episode required
a tremendous amount
of stunt work.
I think at one point,
we had
probably all of London's
stunts guys
all working on the same show
at the same time.
-Action!
-[actors shouting]
So, we got
the siege of Tumbleton.
Um, we have done sieges before.
Not on this scale, though.
This is big scale.
A lot of the A-side of that
was done at Hankley Common.
And then we came back
to the studio
where Jim Clay
and his team have built
this huge set on the backlot.
So, we travel with
the Winter Wolves...
[soldiers shouting]
...people are getting
hit by rocks.
-[rock thudding]
-And getting hit by arrows.
Then we're going up a ladder
with Roddy the Ruin.
Someone comes past him.
[soldier screaming]
We go up the top, he ends up
on the battlements,
and then he looks around
to see the, uh, hidden moat
that's been set on fire,
which basically captures
all of the Winter Wolves
into a k*ll zone.
[soldiers screaming]
-[grunting]
-Nice.
Aaah! Whew!
[Andrij] Rowley really worked
to make it feel
quite authentic
and quite brutal.
[Rowley] You'll obviously be
-a little bit slow with that.
-[Tommy Flanagan] Slow, yeah.
Yeah, so, imagine it weighs 15kg
and not three.
And just feel...
[grunting in effort]
You know?
But push it in.
Thanks, guys.
This is gonna be great.
b*stard.
I'm not gonna smile.
Don't worry about me teeth.
[mock gasping]
"That's Tommy Flanagan! Aah!"
I'll keep me teeth away,
I promise.
[all grunting, shouting]
Aaaah!
-Alright, then!
-Beautiful!
[laughter]
-See you later.
-Oh!
-He's dead.
-[laughter]
-That was right, yeah?
-Moving on.
-Right. Lovely.
-Well done.
[Caraxes whistling]
Dracarys!
[Caraxes screeching]
[flames whooshing]
When you see Caraxes
blasting the gates
of Tumbleton with dragonfire,
that was actually practical.
[Thomas Horton]
There's this great moment
where we burn the door.
And interestingly enough,
I just thought
the door's so huge that
it's gonna have to be CG.
Like, you know, we have
to burst the door open.
And I thought, oh,
we're just not gonna get
all that in camera.
Of course, Mike, our amazing
special effects guy
is going, like,
"Leave it with me."
[Rowley] Three, two, one!
-Flame!
-[flames whooshing]
[Thomas] And so we had
a massive flamethrower
on the other side of the door.
[flames whooshing]
You know, bursting through.
So, we got all that real flames
coming through.
And what was great was that
we shot that with stunt people.
So, we were able
to get the stunts
really close to the flames.
[Ryan] It's a deeply
satisfying moment
in House of the Dragon lore.
And I think it is a triumph
of all of the different
departments on our show.
You know, we wanted
to see Daemon
as the great legendary warrior
once again leading at the head
of this battle.
And that begins when he
storms the gates.
Ormund Hightower!
[weapons clanging]
[crew member]
Here we go, folks.
Everyone set?
We're rolling, standby.
[Paul]
Okay, here we go. Ready?
And, three, two, one.
Action!
[both grunting]
[Ti Mikkel] Ryan and I got
together early on
and we're like, "Okay,
"Daemon is gonna be
at this fight.
"That means the sword
Dark Sister
is gonna be at this fight."
[stabbing, flesh squelching]
Jon Roxton is also here.
[Roxton] Kinslayer!
[Ti] And he has a Valyrian
steel sword of his own
called Orphan Maker.
Ahh!
[weapons clanging]
As fans, we wanted
to see that fight.
Two seasoned warriors,
two Valyrian steel swords,
two of our favorites
having a go.
[both grunting, yelling]
Well, I was very keen that
that wasn't just a sword fight.
I wanted it to be a punch-up,
a violent punch-up,
like a bar brawl.
Quick, unexpected.
There's a real adrenaline to it,
and I'd take that over being
sat in a council chamber.
But I know you need
the council chamber stuff
for the context.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
-[soldiers shouting]
-[weapons clanging]
[James Norton]
There were many,
many very memorable
moments for me on this job.
I think Ormund's death
will go down
as one of my all-time
greatest deaths.
Rowley, our stunt coordinator,
had a genius idea
of how to spice it up,
and, um, I don't think this
death disappoints.
[Andrij]
It really needs to come inside.
[Rowley]
So, they have this fight.
[slicing]
[screaming]
And then, at the end...
-...there's this line.
-[screaming]
That's a proper f*cking
by the North!
[Rowley]
And I was like, "Okay,
so he's bent over
the battlements."
I went to Ryan and I said,
"What if we
stabbed him up the a*s?"
[chuckles]
[♪ tense music playing]
[yelling]
[Ormund screaming]
-[Andrij] Cut!
-Cut!
[indistinct chatter]
[mimics stabbing]
[both yelling, screaming]
-[James gasping loudly]
-[Andrij] Cut there.
[Paul]
So, Tom, just a reminder,
there's two cues.
First one's for the eyeline.
The second-- And I'm gonna
say, "eyeline."
Second one is for your cue
to say the "Dracarys" line,
I'll say, "fire."
I say "fire,"
you say...
-[Paul] Dracarys!
-Yeah!
[Paul] Hey! [laughing]
[Tom Bennett]
When I read the script,
there were two moments
where I had to put
the script down
and just take a second and go,
"Is that-- Is this really
happening?
Do I really get to say
the word, 'Dracarys'?"
Yes, I do.
[chuckling]
I do get to say, "Dracarys."
[Paul] Fire!
[Tom] Dracarys!
[flames whooshing]
[all shouting]
And then the other moment
I had to put the script down,
was when I turn the dragon
to Ormund and say...
f*ck you, too.
[Silverwing growling]
[both yelling, screaming]
They both get torched
by Ulf's dragon.
Action!
-[expl*si*n booming]
-One, two!
And we shot that
on second unit
and we had
those guys engulfed.
And we had people falling
off the battlements on fire,
which was really cool, too.
Out! Out! Out!
[fire extinguishers hissing]
On the backlot,
I think we ended up doing
something like nine
explosions in,
in a fortnight.
[expl*si*n booming]
People would just come
down from the office
and just be like,
"Yeah, where are you gonna
stand for today's expl*si*n?"
Like, "Okay, guys, you've gotta
be safe. Be over there.
Everybody
behind the railings."
[Mike Dawson]
We're doing really long strafes
and we're putting a curvature
in it as well.
So he can come along
and go around
corners with his strafing.
And I think that'll look
really dynamic.
[flames whooshing]
It feels like we've
upped our game.
This is the season where
it all comes together.
[flames whooshing]
[fire extinguisher hissing]
[♪ tense, suspenseful
music playing]
[Andrij] Action.
When Rhaenyra is revealed,
it's quite a sight to behold.
[Ryan] I think it's going to be
very striking in that look
about how much she has
committed to this change
that we've seen her first
going through subtly
and now all at once.
It's a transformation.
It's a different character.
[Andrij]
It's a total Darth Vader moment
where she has this
incredible armor,
a huge cape,
a crown,
and she looks quite fearsome.
[both laughing]
Hello!
-Welcome back.
-Thank you.
[Simon Brindle]
Emma was really fantastic
throughout the process.
They were really responsive
and very interested in what
we were going to do.
These are bits and pieces
that Simon mocks up.
So we get an idea of what
things might look like.
[Simon] Came down,
did a small tour
of the workshop,
spoke to the crew.
Really encouraging
and very excited to see
what we'd end up with.
I think I just really
love chainmail
and I would actually wear it
on my days off.
I've got really
into chainmail, too.
Yeah. Like, this is so vibey.
[Caroline chuckles]
Like, that's so vibey, isn't it?
[Caroline McCall]
We're getting more armored.
We're getting more
battle-ready.
Emma really loved the idea
of, you know,
becoming this warrior.
I think it's one of the biggest
visual changes
we'll have seen on Rhaenyra,
and maybe
since the beginning
of Series One.
The chainmail, I was worried
that it was gonna swamp Emma,
that we would lose
the beauty of Rhaenyra.
[Emma D'Arcy]
So, we had talked about
the idea of some sort of
w*r paint,
but something that felt
really simple
and something that she
could have done herself.
[Amanda Knight]
And we thought,
what can we do?
And it was like that sort of
dragon-blood-red.
[chuckles] I had a go,
she had a go.
And where we landed was
this sort of gesture
in a red pigment
that just runs
through the eye.
[Amanda] In the end,
it was very simple.
And I always think
some of the simple things
look the strongest.
And then Emma and I said,
"Well, they're never
gonna let us do this."
And Ryan loved it.
And was like,
"Yeah, this is perfect.
This is great.
Let's go for it."
Well, I remember
the palpable relief
when we put everything together
and it worked.
Um, there's something
kind of Joan of Arc,
I think, about this
like imagery.
And I find it
really exciting
because for the first time,
Rhaenyra is cognizant
of the image-making.
This is about fascist imagery.
This is about iconography.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
Before his death,
my father,
Viserys the Peaceful,
named me his heir.
[Paul]
Okay. Let's roll sound.
[crew members] Rolling!
[Paul] All crowds looking up
to the queen, guys!
Looking up to the queen!
I think the balancing act
really is to make sure
that the crowd are engaged
and understand what it is.
It's a big moment
in the episode.
The challenge is
when you've got crowd,
you want enough people there
to give the artist energy
to react to.
But at the same time,
too many people in the eyeline
can become distracting.
All the supporting artists
are fantastic here.
A lot of them are returning.
People of King's Landing!
I mean, I'm really grateful
to all of the supporting artists
who were there that day
for their patience
and for being willing
to be so participatory,
actually, in the scene.
I just like-- I just think
I love it, yeah.
And the more energy
they gave me,
in a way, the better.
Or the more
that they fought her
actually, the better.
[crowd booing and jeering]
[Ryan] Emma was very open
to giving us
different levels and versions
so that we can, you know,
snip it together in
the magic of the edit.
Then to my father!
Then to me!
Then to my father,
then to me.
[crew applauding]
We cut there. Thank you.
Thanks for being such
a nice audience.
[applause]
I think it's one of the most
impressive things.
You need it in a good light
'cause it's worth it.
It's so amazing.
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[Ryan] We were looking
for a way to dramatize
what Helaena was seeing
or purporting to be seeing.
And we loved this idea of her
being this, you know,
incredibly
accomplished artist.
So, this is Helaena's tapestry,
which, um, is probably one of
our most significant graphics
for Season Three.
Ryan was very keen for this
not to be very literal
and it not to make sense.
It was all quite symbolic
and abstract.
Everything you see here
I illustrated as a drawing.
I drew out all those pieces
and colored it in.
The messy strings that you see
was something I did by hand,
and it shows that
she's depicting her own death.
And kind of strings
are coming off,
and it's quite a tangible thing
for Phia the actress to be able
to pull on strings
and show her madness going.
And...
it's quite upsetting, really,
how it ends with her death.
[Phia Saban] It really feels
like Helaena's like almost
overworking herself
doing this,
'cause maybe it is her therapy
in that sense.
And there's also quite
a nice poetry to the idea
that it's an externalization of
when she's done,
then that's the end.
So, she's working towards
this sort of like
meta finishing point.
[Andrij] 'Kay, let's...
Yeah, cut there.
[Ryan] Phia...
We adore you. We love you.
Please, uh,
come back and visit.
And, uh, keep in touch.
-Thank you so much.
-So, thank you for everything.
[cheering and applause]
That one hurt.
It very much hurt to, uh,
to say goodbye to Phia
at the end of that episode.
[Phia]
I think what I would say is
I'll miss the relationships
with the whole crew
and the cast.
[both laughing]
Like, the web that actually
makes the show.
[Clare Kilner] Cut.
[all laughing]
I'll miss Liv.
I'll miss, like,
being Helaena
and Liv being Alicent
and us like having a laugh.
That's what I'll really miss.
Oh, my God, I will miss
working with Phia.
I'm gonna really, really,
really, really miss her.
[Ryan]
Phia is such a great one.
I marvel at her uniqueness
that she brought to Helaena
as a character
and made her somebody
that you always
deeply cared about.
I just love the way Phia
dramatized her character.
[♪ poignant music playing]
[Andrij]
Filming Season Three
has been such an honor.
It's the biggest undertaking
I've ever...
I've ever done.
It's incredible to be part
of something...
uh, and to be surrounded
and supported by everyone.
Uh, thank you all
for your amazing work,
your humor, your talent.
I hope I've pushed you
in the right way.
Um...
[voice breaking]
It's deeply meaningful that...
we made this together.
-Thank you, boss.
-[cheering and applause]
[Andrij] All of it has been just
such an honor and a pleasure.
And I have to thank
Ryan Condal for that,
for inviting me back.
[Ryan]
Each season is really
a two-year journey.
You know, from the time that
we start the writing process
to the time that you actually
deliver the season
and put it on the air.
And even though it's only
eight episodes,
I mean, it's, you know,
and years and years
of commitment
and very little downtime.
But it's incredibly satisfying,
and I think that
it takes a while to learn
your own show, in a way.
And I think
it was Season Three
that all the cylinders
started firing.
[Clare]
We've become a family now.
The crew, the actors,
everybody, you know,
is like working to kind of
one common goal.
But we have such trust
that we can push the boundaries
creatively.
[expl*si*n booming on monitors]
Holy sh*t!
Oh, my God!
This is what filmmaking
is all about. It's that--
It's that infectious feeling
of we do this together,
this crazy carnival,
to make the most epic show
on television.
[Nina Lopez-Corrado] And...
Action!
[Nina]
Being able to come over here
and be a part of,
of this studio has been
absolutely incredible.
I feel like that little
piece of history
is a part of me now,
and I'm really grateful
for that.
Cut.
[all laughing]
♪♪
[Ryan] I'm very proud of
this thing that we've made,
and I think the audience
will be rewarded.
And we just love where this
leaves all the characters
to launch us into the end game
for the final season,
Season Four.
[♪ poignant music playing]
[♪ theme music playing]
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