House Of The Dragon star Emma D’Arcy made a surprise confession as they reunited with co-stars Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke on Thursday night.

Emma, 32, Matt, 42, and Olivia, 31, joined the show’s bosses in Los Angeles to talk about the challenges faced with filming season two of the popular HBO Max series.

It’s been some time since the cast wrapped filming, and they had an overdue catch-up for an exclusive FYC event at the Saban Media Center.

The cast were asked if they’ve stayed in touch since filming ended in May 2023.      

‘It’s been a minute since we all gathered,’ host Josh Horowitz said. ‘This is like a glorified excuse to reunite, right?

‘How active has the WhatsApp group been in the last year and a half, two years?’

Emma jokingly responded: ‘Dormant,’ before laughing at their co-stars, adding: ‘No, no no!’

Meanwhile, Matt gave insight into his complex character Daemon Targaryen, sharing his experiences on how he brought him to life.

‘Trying to reroute his descent and his spiral into the chaos, dreamland and places,’ he said, adding: ‘Somewhere that felt [like it] made sense to me.’

Asked about challenges, the Doctor Who actor shared ‘there’s so many of them on this show, really’ and he struggled trying to ‘make the madness or the journey of that specific.’ 

Co-star Olivia, who plays Alicent, spoke of her always complicated relationship with Emma (Rhaenyra) on-screen.

She said: ‘In terms of our relationship, it’s been gorgeous to play with intricacies, and just how layered, hard and sticky the relationship is now, especially in season two.

‘But also the deep relief and comfort they still find in each other. It’s beautiful writing and it’s so gorgeous to play that.’

Also in attendance at the panel was Executive Producer and Writer Sara Hess, as well as Co-Creator and Executive Producer Ryan Condal.

They got a glimpse into Episode 204: The Red Dragon and the Gold, which is meant to be a pivotal installment in the show.

It comes after HBO teased a major season three update for the fantasy drama.

However some ‘struggling’ fans have already made it clear that they are not happy.

It’s already been confirmed filming for the third season of the prequel series to Game of Thrones has begun.

Despite the huge update, some fans aren’t impressed and shared their thoughts on Reddit.

The Express reported that one user commented: ‘I miss when tv shows filmed on a normal schedule and we received new seasons every year (and more than 6-8 episodes).’

The recent season two finale of the show left fans mostly underwhelmed.

The 70-minute finale didn’t provide the spectacle that many Game of Thrones fans had come to expect from season finales.

Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustration over the episode.

While there were plenty of surprising moments – many were left disappointed.

House Of The Dragon is available to stream in the UK on Sky and NOW.