How Princess Diana’s Funeral Inspired the Somber House of the Dragon Procession

O brother, where are you? Identical twins Ser Arryk Cargyll (Luke Tittensor) and Ser Erryk Cargyll (Elliott Tittensor) each face off in the climax of the second episode of Dragon House season two, “Rhaenyra the Cruel”, leaves both twins dead as bloodshed begins to escalate in Westeros. On Vanity FairIt is Keep watching Podcast hosts Hillary Busis, Richard Lawson, and Chris Murphy explain the cumulative effects of eye-for-an-eye violence on the Hightowers, the Targaryens, and the citizens of Westeros. Plus, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” director Clare Kilner drops by the podcast to discuss filming Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen’s funeral procession scene and returning to the director’s chair for Dragon House for season two.

After Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) unwittingly causes the death of Prince Jaehaerys, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is awakened in her room by Ser Arryk of King’s Landing, sent by Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). . to infiltrate Dragonstone to pose as his identical twin brother, a member of the Queensguard, and kill the Queen. Fortunately for Rhaenyra, Ser Arryk’s murder plot is foiled by Ser Erryk at the last possible minute. They fight to the death, with Erryk murdering his own brother and then committing suicide shortly after. “It was the worst reboot ever Parental trap I’ve never seen one,” Murphy says.

Outside of Dragonstone, the family of Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) falls further into disarray as her grief-stricken son King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) becomes increasingly irritable and thirsty for blood after the death of his young son. He hastily declares war on Rhaenyra and Dragonstone and hangs all the rat catchers in King’s Landing, much to the dismay of his grandfather Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). After berating King Aegon for his rash and bloodthirsty decision, Otto is officially removed from his position as Hand of the King and replaced by one Ser Criston Cole.

Aegon’s recklessness seems to have a negative impact on Westeros as a whole, although “in Westeros, it’s not always clear how important it is to have the support of the population,” Busis explains. Lawson agrees, noting the episode’s focus on laymen’s reaction to the feud between the Hightowers and the Targaryens. “All these people are terrible. Don’t the locals know this? he says.

The episode, lasting 72 minutes, turned out to be the longest of the season. Despite its oversized length, Kilner had to kill off some darlings to create the episode, most notably during Prince Jaehaerys’ funeral procession. “We shot so much footage for the funeral,” Kilner says. “And we were like, ‘Oh my God, we need to do this first beat before we go into this procession, which is really heartbreaking and really difficult.’ Alicent and Helaena had to deal with everyone staring and staring.

Kilner says she took some footage of Princess Diana’s funeral to brief the extras about the scene, which was filmed in Spain. “I grew up in Argentina, so I speak Spanish,” she says. “I talk to them to find out what personal experience of grief you’ve had, and to bring that with you and so that everyone can really individualize it, so that it’s not one crowd doing one thing .”

Kilner directed several episodes in the first season of Dragon House, and talks at length about what it was like to return to Game Of Thrones prequel series for season two. “The nice thing about coming back for season two is that you have the trust of the actors, the showrunner and the writers,” she says. “So we can be a little more daring when there are longer scenes. Sometimes we want to lose the formality.

But just because she’s a veteran Dragon House The director doesn’t want to say that she was able to always tell apart Luke and Elliott Tittensor, the identical twins who played Ser Arryk and Erryk. “I love these boys so much, but they look so much alike and I still confuse them,” she says. “We were in a very important moment in the scene, and we got halfway through and I ran in and said quietly, ‘Don’t forget you have to kill the queen.’ And he says, ‘Clare, it’s Elliott.’ Everyone burst out laughing. And I haven’t done it once. I’m ashamed to say I did it twice.

This article was originally titled “How Princess Diana’s Funeral Inspired Dragon House“The dark procession” in Vanity Fair.