This is the first nuclear conflict, series co-creator and showrunnerRyan CondaltellsEntertainment Weeklyof Rooks Rest.
The whole strategy of the war changes after this because everything is so different.
This is the thing that Viserys was terrified of.
Inside ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2’s Battle of Rook’s Rest.HBO - Design: Alex Sandoval
This is the thing that Rhaenys, sitting at her council table, was terrified of.
MartinsFire and Bloodover the course of the eight-episode sophomore season.
The more I read the script, the more I realized it’s not really a battle.
Eve Best’s Princess Rhaenys Targaryen on ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2.Ollie Upton/HBO
He continues, It’s an army attacking a castle, but the castle is never the point.
Its all a ruse to draw out a dragon.
And when the dragons turn up, it really becomes about them.
Aegon’s dragon Sunfyre on ‘House of the Dragon’.HBO
Reading the script for the first time, it’s a pretty apocalyptic event, Mitchell recalls.
With the help of some liquid courage, he decides to join the fray against everyones wishes.
It’s all about concealing vulnerability with Aegon, Glynn-Carney explains.
Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond Targaryen on ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2. Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO.HBO
Adds Taylor, He is in the battle for the stupidest of reasons.
Still, he was trying to do the right thing.
Things change once the king arrives.
Meleys and Vhagar fly over Rook’s Rest on ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2.HBO
When Aemond finally does emerge, he commands Vhagar to breathe fire at both Aegon and his attacker.
A small explosion of flame erupts in the distance to mark the moment they hit the ground.
We really talked a lot about how, when the dragons land, they’re fire made flesh.
Sunfyre versus Meleys on ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2.HBO
So that’s like nuclear bombs going off on the ground, Condal says.
You see the devastation that Sunfyre leaves in the woods.
As for the fate of Aegon?
Vhagar delivers the killing blow to Meleys in the Battle of Rook’s Rest on ‘House of the Dragon’ season 2.HBO
Readers ofFire and Bloodknow what happens next.
Condal, however, teases, We come out of it with Aegon in an unknown condition.
Certainly his dragon is not in good shape.
Did Aemond do all this intentionally to secure the Iron Throne for himself?
Just how calculating was he with each of these movements?
It was no secret that he felt like Aegon was inferior to himself, Mitchell says.
He felt like Aegon lacked the perseverance to be a leader.
I think that’s compelling.
Taylor elaborates: We wanted to sustain multiple motivations that might have happened there.
So I think you might believe whatever you want to believe about his motivations there.
That decision became the tentpole of the scene, shaping everything else around it, Taylor says.
Shehasto go back in.
Best references the 2003 Tom Cruise filmThe Last Samuraiwhen reflecting on Rhaenys ultimate choice.
Because there’s the potential to end it.
The potential for nuclear war is cut down.
That looks like such small fry compared to this, Best says.
They passed videos back and forth of birds of prey on the offensive.
“You see these birds going into a kind of pinwheel chaotic fall.
We stole that idea and applied it to Vhagar and Meleys.
It became one of the centerpiece action moments.
It was crucial to give this upside-down maneuver to Rhaenys.
The production created a piece of dragon-riding equipment to reflect that.
I thought it’d be fun to have her actually anticipate that [maneuver], Taylor says.
She tightens her seatbelt so that she can be prepared for the upside-down move.
Warner Bros. moved on from that installation for a host of reasons, he says.
I kept asking for more cushions.
It got to me.
Its intense, also, because there’s no letup.
There are no other actors.
Mitchell and Glynn-Carney shot their sequences on the buck stage separately.
It’s always fun on the back of the dragon.
You just want to ride it, Mitchell says of his experience.
I was riding it as if it were a horse, Glynn-Carney says of the buck.
Everyone else just looks so f—ing cool, and then you get Aegon, who’s clueless.
For Rhaenys, it became about the crescendo of character moments.
There was something very beautiful about it, Best says.
I think for her to finally let go was the most wonderful relief.
Taylor says they shot scenes of Rhaenys on the ground after the fight, but they were ultimately cut.
I think the impulse behind that choice was to verify that we stayed focused on the key storylines.
The game has now changed for this current game of thrones.
Numbers-wise, the queen has also lost one of the biggest and fastest dragons in her arsenal.
To put it bluntly, They’re going to be really screwed without her, Best says.
There’s also this element of mortality.
It’s seeing a superhero made mortal.
It’s not a pleasant thing, dragon warfare.
Episode 4 is titled “The Red Dragon and the Gold.”
