Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon star Fabien Frankel has said a sex scene he was involved in took more than seven months of preparation to get right.
The scene in question is an intimate moment between Frankel's brave Kingsguard Ser Criston Cole and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), after a steamy night out on the town with her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith).
Celebrating his return to court after almost single-handedly ending a war to show how much he didn't want his brother's help, Rhaenyra and her uncle ended up in a brothel together (yuck).
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Seemingly on the cusp of becoming the latest incestuous couple featured in Game of Thrones and it's spin-off, Daemon instead left, which is probably the most mature decision he's made in the entire show.
A frustrated Rhaenyra returned to the Red Keep and was spotted by Ser Criston Cole, leading her to steal his helmet and entice him into her bedroom to get it back, though he soon ended up losing even more of his armour.
Frankel told Entertainment Weekly a lot of work had gone into getting the scene right so that it succeeded in 'highlighting the realities of sex' and depicted a human moment between the characters.
He said: "It was something we talked about over seven months. It was one of the first things I was very keen to talk about.
"The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, 'cause it's just not like that. Anyone who's ever had sex will tell you sex ain't that beautiful."
"It isn't some picturesque, amazing thing. It's awkward, especially when you are young. There's an uncomfortability that one has to sit in, and there's a discovery and understanding of each other's bodies - not to mention the practical side of the whole thing."
A lot of the time involved in planning the scene went into digging down into the internal struggle going on in the character's minds at the time, as well was working out how they'd get him out of his bulky armour in a way that felt natural to audiences.
The actor explained that a series of 'back and forth texts, back and forth phone calls, back and forth meetings' between himself, co-star Milly Alcock and director Clare Kilner went into getting the scene just right.
Frankel also mentioned the role played by the show's intimacy co-ordinator Miriam Lucia, who has been working with the actors to ensure they are comfortable and feel safe while shooting sex scenes.
Some of the sex scenes in House of the Dragon are difficult to film considering the age differences between the actors and Lucia has been on hand to talk them through it and be there if they need help.
She explained that having 'a lot of preparation before shoot day' was the key to making sure everyone involved felt comfortable with acting out the scene.
Milly Alcock has said her intimate scenes with Matt Smith were not awkward to film, despite the age difference and their characters being related. Though perhaps the same can't be said for the extras who she said had to '69 for 12 hours'.
You can watch House of the Dragon on Sky and NOW on Sundays in the US and Mondays in the UK.
Topics: House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, TV and Film
Joe Harker