By now, whether they watch HBO’s House of the Dragon consistently or not, most people are aware that Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, affectionately known as Jace (played by Harry Collett), met his demise by the conclusion of the Season 3 premiere. However, an essential character was still unaware of this tragic news at the start of Season 3, Episode 2: his mother, Rhaenyra, portrayed by Emma D’Arcy.
**Caution: This contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 2, available now on HBO Max**
In the opening sequence of Season 3, Episode 2, Baela Targaryen, played by Bethany Antonia, returns to Dragonstone bearing Jace’s lifeless form. She leads a solemn procession of dragonpit workers as they carry Jace through the castle, finally stopping outside Rhaenyra’s chambers. Upon arrival, Rhaenyra inquires about the battle, to which Baela replies with a stoic, “’Tis won.”
When Rhaenyra sets eyes on her eldest son’s body, she seems to drift into a state of shock. Instinctively, she reverts to motherly concern, gently asking, “Jace, what have you done?” Her court stands by, watching as she questions his lifeless form as if he were merely a child in minor trouble. Overcome with grief, she struggles to mentally confront the grim truth before her.
“It’s quite a challenge, to be honest. That scene was the one I truly dreaded in the series,” Emma D’Arcy confided to DECIDER. “Part of the difficulty stems from forming deep bonds with our fellow cast members, and each time a character’s death scene is filmed, it feels like losing a colleague from our group.”
D’Arcy also was keenly aware of the layers that could be found in the line, “What have you done?”
“It’s interesting hearing you say that line, ‘What have you done?’” they said. “I was cognizant of wanting to actually ask the question as opposed to it becoming kind of rhetorical. I just wanted it to sort of live and for her to hope for an answer because I think that that denial is the most honest.”
“I think that I think that that denial communicates how kind of intolerable the sort of dawning reality is.”
Helping her in the scene was co-star Harry Collett, who did stand in as a corpse for the entire day of shooting. Collett told DECIDER there were discussions about using a dummy, but he wanted to be there.
“It was hard, and Emma [D’Arcy] did an amazing performance. All of the reactions you see in [the] room are all very real,” Collett said. “I think there’s a scene where there’s a clip where Bethany [Antonia] actually has a tear rolling down her face, and that’s real. That’s just a real reaction to Emma’s performance.”
D’Arcy returned the compliment. “Harry Collett was totally beautiful on the day, and it’s a funny thing to have to do,” they said. “He gave me a very wide berth in the morning, and we hadn’t really spoken and we hadn’t talked. We hadn’t planned how to sort of approach it, but he caught me briefly at lunch and sort of said, you know, ‘I didn’t know, like the best way, but I just thought I’d give you sort of some space or whatever.’”
“I’m always just deeply touched by the sort of beautiful intuition and grace that actors have and the respect that we give each other,” D’Arcy continued. “He’s an ace person. He’s a really special person. I was very relieved when that day was over, actually.”
Collett was ironically relieved for a different reason. He almost fell asleep.
“Obviously I couldn’t do anything, could I? Because I was just dead,” Collett said. “I mean, we got to the end of the day where they were doing like wide shots and I was trying not to fall asleep because I had my eyes closed the whole day.”
“I was like, if I snore, I can’t snore being a corpse, can I?” he said. “While Emma’s doing this incredible performance, I can’t just go and snore.”
Luckily, he stayed awake, albeit dead.
House of the Dragon will return next Sunday, July 5 at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.