Olivia Cooke and Phia Saban in season two, episode two of “House of the Dragon”
Theo Whiteman/HBO
With the second episode of House of the Dragon season two “The Taking of Harrenhal” now streaming on Max, tensions are rising and a desire for justice grows, following the murder of King Aegon II Targaryen’s young son, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen.
Based on the George R.R. Martin book Fire & Blood and brought to the screen by showrunner Ryan Condal, the Blood and Cheese murder in last week’s “A Son for a Son” season two premiere episode is being perceived by many on the series as an act of retaliation, after the death of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, at the end of season one, when it was in fact Prince Aemond Targaryen who committed the initial homicidal act.
The latest episode shows the aftermath of Jaehaerys’s murder, with his mother and the sister-wife to King Aegon II, Queen Helaena Targaryen, being the one who confronted the assassins (sent by Prince Daemon Targaryen) and fled the scene with her young daughter in her arms, to report the active crime to her mother, Queen Alicent Hightower.
With a funeral procession planned for the slain boy, to be displayed throughout the town for the public to witness and be able to grieve, Helaena, played by Phia Saban, questions why such an event must occur, confused as to why townspeople would even care about someone they never actually met. On the other hand, Alicent, played by Olivia Cooke, sympathizes with Helaena’s stance on the matter, but sees and understands the service expected of them and their royal family.
I sat down with Cooke and Saban to discuss this emotional episode, the mindsets they perceive of their conflicted characters and if the actors see any parallels to the duties expected of our real world’s royal families.
Cooke said of the House of the Dragon funeral scene, “It’s all optics, isn’t it? We want the public to fully be on our side and we need the public to really empathize with the royals at this point. There’s no greater emotion than seeing a dead child paraded through the streets. Alicent knows the weight of that. She’s still very politically-minded, in that regard.”
Olivia Cooke and Phia Saban in season two, episode two of “House of the Dragon”
HBO
Saban said, “I think for Helaena in that scene, as well, I think that she’s used to putting up with things that she doesn’t like, for the benefit of her family, like marrying her brother or getting up in an uncomfortable dress in front of a thing for a coronation, but I think that moment is truly a step too far for her. She needs to process her grief in her own way and it’s literally the opposite of like being slowly pulled through massive, screaming people. That’s why it’s really hard between us, as well, because you don’t want to put your child through that, but it’s for the greater good, I guess.”
Cooke added: “What they deem as the greater good.”
Now, as their characters’ storylines head further into House of the Dragon season two, what are Saban and Cooke enjoying most about the evolution happening with Helaena and Alicent? Are they becoming more compassionate as time goes on with their many experiences, or are they becoming more hollow and jaded by the world?
Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower in season two of “House of the Dragon”
HBO
“I think both,” Cooke said. “I think Alicent’s eyes are finally beginning to open. She’s not so blinkered and myopic and sort of one-note in her service to the crown. She’s seeing the mechanics of it all and how it actually doesn’t work for her and her family. I think throughout this season, it’s incredibly painful and I think she’s confused, and she feels great loss but I think there’s liberation that comes with that.”
Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen in season two of “House of the Dragon”
HBO
Saban added: “That’s what’s cool about this season, as well, is that there’s a lot of mirroring between the two of them. I think it is the same way – it’s written in a real, hugely obvious way, which is uncomfortable to acknowledge beforehand but then you have to in an emergency. I think Helaena sees how much she is not served by the dynamic that she is in and how that is the experience Alicent has had, and what she sacrificed in order to serve, loyally, and what that actually means to them. Is it worth all this pain? Can we imagine a different life for ourselves? Have we even ever seen evidence of a life that is something that we would aspire to? I don’t think so.”
After all of the turmoil, sacrifices and loss these two characters have had to already endure over these two seasons, what would Cooke and Saban say to Alicent and Helaena, if only they could?
Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower in season two of “House of the Dragon”
Theo Whiteman/HBO
Cooke said, “Oh, just to have a day off. Just have a day off, Alicent. Please! Just go out – just like literally touch grass. I know that’s like internet-speak but just please hug a tree, touch grass, look at the stars.”
Phia Saban as Helaena Targaryen in season two of “House of the Dragon”
HBO
Saban questioned, “What would I say to Helaena?”
Cooke replied, “Believe in yourself.”
Saban continued, “Yeah, it’s sort of that vibe, isn’t it? It’s like if you like it, go for it.” She added: “I don’t know – I think the warnings would fall on deaf ears, as we’ve seen. That’s the irony – I don’t know if we could give them any advice. Maybe they are really cursed – maybe it is their fate.”
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