You could populate a small village with all the actors who’ve been killed off in the world of Game of Thrones – and the death toll is still rising.
House of the Dragon, one of HBO’s high-budget Thrones spinoffs, began its third season on Sunday night (21 June), in an episode that ended with yet another shock death scene.
Spoilers follow for the House of the Dragon season three premiere – you have been warned…
The season premiere depicts the Battle of the Gullet, a conflict between the Black army, fighting in the name of Rhaenyra Targaryan (Emma D’Arcy) and her husband-uncle Daemon (Matt Smith), and the Greens, led by Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who has seemingly taken the Iron Throne after the disappearance of King Aegon II.
Things take a turn on the battlefield when Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell) arrives, riding the rogue dragon known as Sheepstealer.
Amid the carnage, Rhaenyra’s eldest son Jace (Harry Collett) was the most noteworthy casualty, after his dragon Vermax was brought crashing down into the water. While trying to avoid drowning, Jace was then killed by arrows.
Speaking to Variety, Collett opened up on his death scene, telling the outlet: “It was really hard to act dead – it’s actually one of the hardest acting I’ve ever done in my life.
“It was really fun, but also really challenging trying to keep my eyes open in the water and staying afloat, while also not getting any up my nose. Otherwise, I’d cough, and obviously I’m not dead if I cough. So that was quite challenging.”
Collett was, he says, told from the beginning that his run on House of the Dragon would only last for two seasons, with showrunner Ryan Condal originally planning to include the Battle of Gullet in season two.
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Due to budget constraints, the spectacular warfare sequence was pushed to the first episode of season three.
“I knew my fate already, and was taking the days as they come and enjoying myself and just being grateful to be on this show in the first place,” Collett continued.
“When I read season two, normally Ryan calls you to tell you what is gonna happen this season. I didn’t get a call, and I was like, ‘Is he just waiting until like we get to the script read?’ But, no, [the death scene] got skipped in season two, which I’m very grateful for. It’s great that it gets to be the first episode that people see for this season.”
He added to Entertainment Weekly that he asked if he could shout the famous High Valyrian command ‘Dracarys’ during his final scenes, which wasn’t originally in the script.
“I actually asked if I could say that. So I was really happy about that,” he revealed, saying of the premiere opener: “Nothing compared to this.”
In 2022, House of the Dragon became the first Game of Thrones spinoff to debut, following the conclusion of the main Game of Thrones series in 2019.
A second spin-off, the lighter-in-tone A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, premiered earlier this year; several other Thrones spinoffs are currently in development.
