Emma D’Arcy says Matt Smith came up with important moment from House of The Dragon finale
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Emma D’Arcy has said Matt Smith came up with an important moment from the epic House of The Dragon finale.
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SEASON ONE FINALE
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Now that warning's out of the way, let's get into it.
I'm going to guess that if you've reached this point, you've had a chance to see the finale - in which case you'll know that the Game of Thrones spinoff finished its opening season with the grisly death of Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault).
The young prince met his end during a dragon chase through stormy skies with Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), having travelled to Storm’s End to visit Lord Borros Baratheon in a bid to secure loyalty for Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy).
But Aemond had turned up to do precisely the same for Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), who promised a marriage as an incentive, something Lucerys could not match.
Although Borros cooled the pair off, they continued their face-off in the sky, only for things to turn awry.
Aemond tried to call his dragon off his rival’s but Vhagar had other ideas and swooped down, clamping Arrax and Lucerys into her jaws, before letting go and leaving them both to tumble to the ground.
In the final shot of the episode, Daemon, portrayed by Smith, breaks the bad news to Rhaenyra, who takes a moment to compose herself before looking to the camera in anger.
It was an emotional and compelling moment, one that perfectly set up the events of a second season.
In a new interview with GQ, D'Arcy has revealed that it was Smith who came up with the idea of Daemon being the person to share the tragic news with Rhaenyra, which subsequently led to one of the most powerful moments of the entire season.
The 30-year-old actor told the outlet that her character thought she knew all about dealing with grief, but she 'learns at the end of episode 10 that she knows nothing about grief up to this point'.
Adding to this, she said of the closing scene: "It did take a day, although half of that was the crew making that crane do that beautiful movement you see in the episode.
"When we got on set to rehearse, it has to be known, it was Matt Smith, in a turn of f**king genius, who offered the idea that Daemon should give Rhaenyra the news while we're both walking away from camera, towards the fireplace.
"It was a sublime choice, and I could see it instantly. We've sort of touched on it, but I think losing a child, losing her son, it reframes grief immediately."
Catch up with House of the Dragon season one on HBO Max in the US or via Sky and NOW in the UK.
Featured Image Credit: Dom Slike / LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy
Topics: HBO, TV and Film, House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones
