[♪ dramatic music playing]
[flames whooshing]
[Ewan Mitchell] There is tons
of action this season.
[♪ music intensifies]
And after all of
the preparation and training,
you really can't help
but escape into that world.
[♪ thrilling music playing]
{\an8}[♪ solemn music playing]
{\an8}It's exciting to get out
onto location
{\an8}because you've just got
the wind...
[wind blowing]
...the sea,
and all the elements
of our world.
And landscape brings a poetry
to the show, I think.
[Alejandro Martínez]
Wales is the perfect location
for a show like this.
Its, like, landscapes
are dramatic.
{\an8}And the weather of Wales
{\an8}really contributes
to the whole ambiance.
-[crew chattering]
-All the elements.
{\an8}Wales provides scope
and location,
{\an8}the way that we cannot
get anywhere.
[Abubakar Salim]
It's gorgeous
and it feels very
kind of "Westeros."
{\an8}House of the Dragon sort of
environment, which is awesome.
-Yeah, let's do it.
-Yeah!
-Let's do it.
-Let's do it!
Do it!
[waves crashing]
{\an8}The aftermath of
the Battle of the Gullet
{\an8}was probably one of our most
challenging pieces to do.
When you see this
and the breadth of it,
this shows the cost
of something like the Gullet.
[Nick Heckstall-Smith]
We had to use a mixture
of some real bodies
and then some
prosthetic bodies.
With the real bodies, obviously,
some of those characters
had to have big wounds on
'cause they'd been
through a battle.
[laughing] It's so creepy.
You know it's fake,
but then the detail
is so well done.
It was very surreal.
[♪ soft, upbeat music playing]
{\an8}The great thing
about our dummies
{\an8}was that all the heads are
quite easily interchangeable.
{\an8}So, I think we made
{\an8}Otherwise, we're gonna see
the same 20 heads over again.
[Alejandro] Prosthetic has
a thing about creating
prosthetic of crew members',
uh, faces.
So, that's-- that's always
a fun thing to watch.
Everybody wants to be
a dead dummy. [laughing]
I think we actually had
more volunteers
than we had needs for bodies.
{\an8}Pop them in the front.
{\an8}And...
Give us a picture like
you've kind of got death
rushing up to meet you.
That was good. I think you did
a good job holding that.
[Dan Storey] Thank you.
Kind of look constipated.
[Waldo laughing]
So the next stage is
to make a printable head.
Here we have a box-fresh
Dan Storey head.
We then mold that,
pull a silicone version out.
♪♪
We'll go through hair,
go through paint,
have some eyes put in.
Then the beard has to be
punched in by hand,
individually, with a needle.
-We'll give you a cool look.
-[Dan laughing]
We're gonna be hunting for me
on the set, you realize.
[♪ upbeat music playing]
{\an8}Dan the "behind-the-scenes guy"
{\an8}is definitely in the wide shot.
{\an8}[laughing]
[Ryan Condal]
When you misbehave on
House of the Dragon,
you never know when you might
end up just a bloated body
floating in the wreckage
of the Gullet.
{\an8}[birds chirping]
[people chattering]
[indistinct chatter]
[bell ringing]
[Clare Kilner]
Baela flying back
with Jace's body
is incredibly sad.
[slate clacks]
We had to work out how to put
Jace's body over the dragon.
[crew chattering]
[Nick] The buck isn't designed
for two people,
but thankfully, in our sequence,
one of them's dead.
So, we didn't have to--
{\an8}We didn't have to have them
moving around too much.
{\an8}Um, Emma said I look like
Edward Scissorhands.
Harry, you know, was brilliant.
[laughing] Um, you know,
lying there in an incredibly
uncomfortable position.
That feels great. Comfortable.
[♪ soft, upbeat music playing]
Are you okay just to fall back,
-dead body on there?
-Yeah.
Just mind your head
on the side seat.
Yeah, I'm all good. It's already
what I've been doing.
I think one of the most
challenging things as an actor
is to play dead.
{\an8}It's long old days.
{\an8}And by the end of the day,
{\an8}if you lay down
with your eyes closed
and don't move a muscle
for ten minutes,
you will fall asleep.
So, I've got my eyes closed.
Obviously, you can't open them.
And I'm trying not
to fall asleep,
but obviously you can't.
And I think one
of the rehearsals,
I actually woke
myself up snoring,
and they were actually sh**ting.
And I went... like that,
because I obviously tried
to wake myself up.
But how can you wake yourself up
if your eyes are closed?
Do you know what I mean?
So, it was--
Yeah, it was quite challenging.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
{\an8}Clare showed me some images
quite early on
{\an8}about how pale
and sort of vulnerable
she wanted to see Jace
at the end moments.
So, we worked on, you know,
paling up his skin
and painting in some veins.
Got a lot of dialogue.
Can you please leave me alone?
{\an8}Oh, I could wax lyrical
about Harry all day.
{\an8}Uh, I love him.
[cast chattering]
-Hello. [laughing]
-How are you?
{\an8}I haven't earned this at all,
but I feel deeply proud
{\an8}of the young man
that he's becoming.
-You look well.
-[both laughing]
[Harry Collett] Jace has gone
on a massive journey,
but then so have I
as a person, I think.
So, I feel like we've kind of
grew up together, in a way.
[Ryan]
It was very affecting for me.
You know, we cast Harry
when he was--
He was, I mean, a young man.
I want to say he was 16
when we cast him.
But to see him mature as a man
and as a performer,
it's just a--
you don't get that all the time.
[Bethany Antonia]
It's just so sad.
{\an8}You know, we've done
every single part
{\an8}of this journey together,
so it sort of doesn't feel real
that he's not gonna be back
or that he's gone.
But we had such a good time.
He's the best boy.
[Emma D'Arcy] I will miss
his kindness and generosity
and sensitivity on set.
We all say often
we do not deserve him.
[Harry] These memories
and the people that I've met
on this show is-- is amazing.
I'm just grateful, really.
[camera operator laughing]
-Such a juvenile.
-[Harry] Sorry.
-I'll be professional.
-Come on.
[feet clomping]
-[crew] Thanks, guys,
appreciate it.
-[Harry laughing]
[crew chattering]
{\an8}[crew member]
Uh, Second Season,
they used to be...
{\an8}[bird squawking]
{\an8}Fake one? Oh, it's a real one.
{\an8}Back for more.
[laughing]
[both yelling]
-[stabbing]
-[screaming]
{\an8}It's like we never left,
darling.
[♪ plucky music playing]
Filming the rookery is--
[chuckling] It was great.
We basically shot it
in the studio on the lot.
[Alejandro]
We had two rookeries.
One that you can see it
from the outside.
The other you can see the in--
from the inside.
-The one from the inside...
-It was like a wooden box.
And myself and Matthew
sat inside it with,
you know, 30-odd
screaming ravens.
[ravens squawking]
{\an8}It was built well enough
{\an8}so that you could take
the back off
where the ravens were,
and then sh**t through
the birds onto our heroes,
{\an8}whilst all the time
{\an8}they're being pushed and pulled
{\an8}and rocked about.
[rig creaking]
[Alejandro] It's basically
people pushing it and moving it
so you can feel the movement
from inside.
Then me saying,
"More, more, less, less,
Okay, a bit more,
please, guys.
A lot of guys are rattling
the thing around,
so we're like, oh, my God.
Bouncing around as if we're
going down a bumpy road.
[rig rattling]
That was a really cool
kinda going back to basics.
And how do we move this?
Well, we just move it, right?
[Ryan] On this show,
you can go from a day
of seeing two ships crash
into each other in a wet tank,
and then you go
onto another stage
and there's a-- a grip
rocking a half of a horse cart
with his foot.
And look, it all results
in the same credible,
believable film
at the end of it.
And that's just--
that's filmmaking for you.
[Clare] We were all laughing
so much that day,
with, you know,
all those birds flapping about
in this tiny little space.
[wings fluttering,
birds squawking]
{\an8}The crows are, um,
{\an8}are horrible, um,
but, you know,
{\an8}we're-- we're still in touch.
We text.
-[people shouting]
-What is it?
{\an8}[♪ tense,
dramatic music playing]
{\an8}We shot the outside
of the rookery in location.
♪♪
It's great to do, uh,
I wouldn't call it action.
It's nice to be a bit
physically violent.
And hitting someone
with a birdcage is always fun.
[birdcage thumps]
[director]
Three, two, one. Action!
{\an8}There's sort of
a semi-comedic element
{\an8}to that scene.
-[birdcage thumps]
-[soldier grunts]
It's messy and awkward
and sort of nasty.
These aren't warriors,
you know.
These are people who are making
the best with what's to hand.
[Clare] And then Tom added
the brilliant idea there
that when he takes
the arrow and--
and just stabbed
the Staunton soldier repeatedly.
So he had a vessel
for his rage.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[♪ dark, ominous music playing]
And then, Episode Two
evolves from grief
and aftermath from a battle
to how Rhaenyra reacts to it.
Today, King's Landing
receives its queen.
[Alejandro] It's a peak,
peak moment in the story.
As a cinematographer,
what I tried to do was
to just give it
a very special theme to it.
So, early on, we decided
we were gonna make the scene
brighter as it progressed.
So, they leave Dragonstone
on a cloudy,
kinda stormy day.
And as they reach
King's Landing...
-[dragon screeching]
-...the sky opens up
and there's like tons
of sunlight coming in.
-[♪ majestic music playing]
-[dragons roaring]
[Dadi Einarsson]
We set out with some
rules on the buck,
{\an8}like basically,
if we had actual dragons
{\an8}or if we were up in the sky,
like, how could we sh**t that?
Because you want there to be
some kind of familiarity
with the cinematic language
of sh**ting things
like practically up in the air.
[dragons screeching]
-[dragon growling]
-[crowd clamoring]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[dragon roars]
[Matt Smith]
Have to really have a shout-out
to the stunt team.
They're a brilliant set of boys
and wonderfully skilled.
Mad as foxes, mate.
They're all like,
"Oh yeah, we're getting
burned tomorrow. Can't wait."
I'm like,
"You lot are off your head."
[cast and crew chattering]
It's always fun
to have Matt Smith
slicing through people.
-[clacks]
-[weapons clanging]
I was thinking
about Quentin Tarantino
when we were sh**ting
that scene. [laughing]
{\an8}[♪ "Florentine Whistle" by
Alessandro Alessandroni playing]
{\an8}You know, as he just
cuts his way through.
-[Daemon grunting]
-[soldiers yelling]
I just woke up one morning,
it's like, "Yes,
{\an8}"we have to have a top shot
{\an8}with all these pools of blood."
[soldier grunts, groans, thuds]
[Alejandro]
And then, they end up
getting to the throne,
which is, um, you know,
personally, it's one of like,
um, the coolest moments
and it's a turning point.
[doors banging]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
{\an8}I think my favorite scene
to sh**t this season
{\an8}was claiming the throne
in Episode Two.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
Pretending to behead someone
whilst crying uncontrollably
is one of the maddest acting
challenges I've ever undertaken.
{\an8}My favorite scene to sh**t
was, I think, Otto's beheading.
Because it's such
a big moment in the show...
and it's also
our first day on set.
Good to be back.
[mimics slicing sound]
[Waldo Mason]
So, uh, it scratched
a couple of itches.
You know, it's like us
back in sh**ting mode.
And, you know, what's more fun
than cutting someone's head off
in the throne room, right?
[chuckles]
[Nick] I'd never done
a beheading on this show,
but all-- everyone else
had seem--
seemingly done tons of them.
It's actually
a very simple process.
[Tim Lewis]
When you have scenes like
a character being beheaded,
{\an8}which happens quite a lot...
{\an8}[swords slicing]
{\an8}...we make sure
{\an8}that we have all the swords
required for that action.
Usually that means, you know,
having the hero sword,
having the full rubber sword,
and having numerous amounts
of cut-down versions
of that sword.
So, it's important that
we're standing by,
making sure that we speak
to the stunt department
who are there on the day,
and the director as to how
this action plays out.
Like, I want her to go to strike
and then shut her eyes.
-Yeah. That's--
-And that is just hard.
-[sword thwacking]
-[people gasping]
It's like you've got
the angle wrong.
-Yeah.
-Rather than the distance wrong.
-Yeah, right.
-Yeah. That's it.
-That there, that's it. Yeah.
-Yeah. Okay, yeah.
And then, making sure that
the visual effects department
have got what they need,
because they're gonna have
to add on the rest
of the sword.
Okay, and walk away now
to the throne.
[Olivia Cooke] There wasn't
a lot of screen time
with Rhys this season.
[all applauding]
{\an8}I will just miss his naughtiness
and his silliness.
{\an8}But I saw Rhys very recently.
He took me on a boat.
So, it's all good.
[laughing]
Enjoy, guys. Stay alive.
-[laughter]
-We'll see you later.
As long as you can.
Look after yourself, mate.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[bats squeaking, chirping]
[Clare]
Aemond arriving at Harrenhal
was an incredible
sequence to get.
It really jumped off the page.
It was very exciting to sh**t.
[Thomas Horton]
For me as a VFX producer,
{\an8}I'm reading Episode One,
{\an8}I'm thinking you couldn't
write more visual effects
into an episode.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
And then we get to Episode Two.
And then we have
the opening aftermath...
dragons landing
at King's Landing,
you know, massive sequence,
and then Vhagar
lands at Harrenhal,
and it's huge.
-[Vhagar growling]
-[Harrenhal rumbling]
When I was thinking about
Vhagar landing in that space,
I started thinking
about King Kong.
{\an8}[people screaming]
{\an8}-[walls crashing]
-[King Kong growling]
{\an8}[panicked screaming]
{\an8}The previous season,
we'd had all that scaffolding
{\an8}and they were building up
the Great Hall,
{\an8}and I started thinking,
what about if when Vhagar lands,
all these old arches
and everything they had built
started falling apart?
[crashing]
[Thomas Horton] For us,
that's just a massive, all-out,
CG-fest.
And then we had burns
on top of that.
[over megaphone]
Okay, here we go. Ready?
And, three, two, one.
-Action!
-[expl*si*n booming]
[♪ intense music playing]
-[people screaming]
-[flame whooshing]
[♪ intense music continues]
[stunt actors screaming]
[Rowley Irlam]
Out! Out! Out!
[extinguishers hissing]
Ground guys, got that?
Well done. Good.
[crew cheering and applauding]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[Ryan]
We had not seen Aemond
in his proper battle armor
{\an8}to date 'cause he went
into battle on his dragon,
{\an8}which, you know, he can do
in a T-shirt and shorts.
{\an8}But this, he knew he was gonna
have to get down and get dirty.
So, certainly he would
have a set of battle armor.
What does that look like?
{\an8}This season, we've had a lot
of new designs,
{\an8}but I would say Aemond,
he was one of the most complex
and really significant builds.
[Joanna Lynch] It's very
different to anything else
we've seen on anyone else
in the show so far.
{\an8}And Simon's workshop
of 15 people
{\an8}spent 26 weeks working on it.
It was brilliant.
{\an8}Very heavily inspired by
kind of mid-medieval,
{\an8}um, Gothic, um, armors.
[Ryan] Ewan has this
very classical build.
He's very lean.
He very much has the build
of a actual medieval warrior.
{\an8}I've been fascinated by
St. George and the Dragon,
and he's depicted
in full plate armor
{\an8}and this tall, lithe figure.
And I thought, Ewan has
the perfect physique
to carry that off.
And then we looked
at sculptures
and different armors,
and then how you
would tweak that
in order to make it
feel Targaryen.
[Simon Brindle]
We went through
many different iterations
of dragon scale,
and eventually we settled
on hundreds of small,
overlapping dragon scales
that are kind of unique
in shape to Aemond.
They have quite a-- a sharp
and menacing look to them.
But it's a complete
head-to-toe armor.
Every part of his body
is covered.
Everything's
individually tailored
and sculpted to fit him.
[Ewan] Something that
was imperative for Aemond
{\an8}was making this armor that was
{\an8}fully articulate
with all of my joints,
because Aemond,
as we've established,
he's agile, he's flexible.
And to have a piece of armor
that tells that story
and is also, um, practical
was just amazing.
[Ryan] The one thing
that I introduced to the mix
was I thought he should
have a helmet that
kind of honored the fact
that he had an eye patch.
Half of his face
could be protected
because he can't see
out of that side of his face.
And I just love that design
'cause I think
it's so intimidating
to see that coming
around the corner,
with the one eye
peering at you
from under the hood
of that helmet.
The work that they pulled
out of the bag
was just nothing
short of incredible.
And it's an honor that they let
me be a part of that as well.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[Ryan] We wanted
the taking of Harrenhal
to be visceral and dramatic
in a way where you were seeing,
you know, not only Vhagar
do her work,
but also see what it takes
for Aemond
to carve his way
through the castle.
[grunting]
Ewan loves stunts
and fighting, clearly.
[Ryan] Ewan is, uh,
sort of unquestionably
our best cast fighter,
I think, on the show.
And I think--
I think everybody else
would kind of
own up to that, too.
Yeah, he just throws himself
at all of this stuff.
[♪ trip-hop music playing]
Ewan is almost amazing
at everything he does.
{\an8}He's really cool.
He's always been cool, though.
[♪ trip-hop music continues]
No, he is amazing
at everything he does.
-[slashing]
-Ewan can do it all.
{\an8}Ewan's awesome.
He works really hard.
{\an8}Um, he's naturally gifted
with the sword.
I don't think I've worked with
many people like Ewan.
He throws himself into anything
that you ask him to do.
[Ewan]
Doing the, the choreography
over and over again
until it's just--
it's second nature,
I absolutely love it.
I-- I love it.
-[♪ dramatic music playing]
-[knights grunting]
-[yelling]
-[weapons clanging]
[Nick] For the fight where
he's-- he's basically fighting
through every guy
that comes at him,
there was a single
Steadicam shot.
[Ewan] Doing those
two-minute-long fight scenes
without breaking,
it's just so immersive.
[Michael Carstensen]
Ewan is a really
passionate actor.
{\an8}And he knew as much as I did
that it is a ballet.
{\an8}It is a dance
between the two of us,
{\an8}and we've got to get it right.
And then when Ewan
swings that sword
and you're right there
with him,
it's a little more real.
-[flames whooshing]
-[Vhagar roaring]
Then we have Vhagar
kind of strafing
and burning into the--
into the corridors,
this, like, kind of system
of corridors.
We have the situation where
we lit two guys behind him.
So, we had a guy
that was manually lit.
[over megaphone]
Okay, here we go!
Three, two, one! Action!
And then we had a guy ignited
which creates a fireball.
-And burn!
-[expl*si*n booming]
And then he kills that person
that's manually lit.
[Ewan] Seeing that full body
burn two feet away from me,
and you can see his eyes.
And these blue eyes
are just engulfed
by a 20-foot flame
up in the air above him,
and it's quite haunting.
It's as real as it gets.
We normally don't set
off bombs on, uh, on stage
in blast radius of one
of our main characters.
[Rowley]
But it's so much better,
you know, to see the character
k*ll somebody
that's fully on fire
and it's actually them.
There's so much value there,
and it's way too close
to do face replacement.
All of these different
elements that we've got
of, you know,
people being on fire...
-[stunt actors screaming]
-...props being on fire.
Now in post,
putting it all together
and just having that
as a base to build on.
-It's a luxury.
-[all cheering]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
To me, action without emotion
is empty.
We have epic
action sequences...
-[Rhaenyra grunting]
-[sword slicing]
...in contrast with these real,
intimate moments.
[♪ dramatic music continues]
So, they're all rooted
in something very real.
[softly sobbing]
♪♪
[♪ theme music playing]
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