If there was one thing you could always count on, it was terrible violence. There's also sex. There were zombies and dog maulings. It felt like things came out of nowhere on that show.
In the premiere episode of House of the Dragon, there is a story about a dragon. If you want to know what's going on, this is a good place to start... After King Viserys Targaryen convenes a kingdom-wide jousting tournament to celebrate the impending birth of the child he knows will be a son, he sees his brother Daemon going head-to-head.
Viserys was summoned to his queen's chamber, where he found out that the baby was breech, making it impossible to deliver. The doctor can either cut the baby out of his wife without anesthesia or she can. They could risk the deaths of his wife and baby by rolling the dice. The scene where Viserys takes the former is brutal and grotesque, indicative of the cruelty of the Thrones world, where sometimes it's all about preserving the line. The baby is born at the expense of Aemma Targaryen's life and she dies soon afterwards.
The cast of House of the Dragon talked to WIRED about the episode and what it meant for their characters.
The production was funny.
The premiere's big joust scene required not only a quintain area but also massive stands and a platform on which members of the king's court could watch The dais was occupied by at least 20 core players and 100 extras at any one time. Emily Carey said that it was their first group scene. Carey says that doing the scene on the back lot was the first time she realized it was Game of Throne. The people are fighting with lances.
The shooting of the scene was light-hearted, if only because Considine and Ifans were like "uncles at a wedding, where one of them cracks a joke and then the other has to make a decision."
Don't worry, that wasn't Matt Smith's stunts.
Matt Smith wasn't actually taking his own falls while he was on set for the jousting shoot Eduardo Gago Muoz was his stuntman. Smith says it isn't his natural habitat to be on a horse.
The Devil's Horsemen is an old British institution that has been teaching actors to ride for a long time. Since he hadn't ridden before, he was slow on a very basic horse and worked his way up the ranks. He says you should be able to canter and hold a sword by the end.
Daemon's big dragon helmet is heavy.
Most of the joust competitors have basic armor, but Daemon wears a helmet with ornate designs and dragon wings. The piece of costume was quite heavy and weighed about 11 pounds. He says that all of the armor is heavy. He said the helmet felt like a dragon, but also elegant and stylish.
Rhaenys Targaryen is the Queen who never was.
The king's oldest grandchild, Rhaenys Targaryen, was passed over to her younger male cousin, Viserys. Members of the kingdom still believe that she would have been a better ruler. One of the knights calls her "the Queen Who Never Was" when he asks for her favor at the joust. Eve Best suggests that her character would rather not remind the world of her claim to the throne.
She doesn't want him to mention it at all because she doesn't want it to be thrown in her face. It was the largest source of shame in Rhaenys life, and the fact that it is constantly being referred to is really, really annoying.
Special insight into the workings at court and the history of the kingdom is what Rhaenys and Corlys Valaryon have. It is a reminder that King's Landing has been under Targaryen rule for hundreds of years.
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