When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or die. House of the Dragon is so engrossing when it comes to establishing key characters such as Viserys, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and even Otto that we’d almost forgotten the key principle of this fictional world, and perhaps the idea that there might be other forces at work besides their immediate motivations.
As the Westerosi community receives a grim reminder of this in the form of Larys Strong, House showrunner Ryan Condal explains why the Clubfoot had to work from under the shadows. He’s also here to address the rumors of a deleted wedding scene, so read ahead as we go through the most important House of the Dragon developments over the last day.
‘House’ creator explains why Miguel Sapochnik decided to leave
Director Miguel Sapochnik has received the critical acclaim of a lifetime helming Game of Thrones and some of its most memorable episodes. He continued that streak into HBO’s planned spinoffs, not only directing a few episodes but serving as showrunner alongside Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, bringing that old wisdom to the fore and making sure that House hits the ground running. Now that he’s done his part, Sapochnik is leaving the prequel, and Condal fully understands and supports this decision. And fortunately, it has nothing to do with creative differences and the like, as is often the case in the entertainment industry.
Alicent’s deleted wedding was a minor scene according to the showrunner
A few weeks ago, House production designers shared photos of Alicent Hightower in her wedding dress, fueling ever-persistent rumors that the producers have cut out large chunks off of each episode. Now, Condal himself has put those worries to rest by revealing the scene in question was a minor interaction between Alicent and Rhaenyra, and keeping it in would’ve just undermined the narrative’s established pace. “Yeah. I mean, things fell out of every episode,” Condal explained. “We never filmed a wedding. That didn’t happen. But there was a sequence where Rhaenyra and Alicent are together and Alicent’s wearing the dress meant to imply that she’s going off at some point later to marry Rhaenyra’s father.”
The show’s writers knew Larys Strong needed a bigger role
Larys Strong might not cast an imposing a presence as Petyr Baelish or Lord Varys, but the man certainly knows his way around the brutal landscape of court intrigue. So great is his cunning that the disowned son of Lord Lyonel Strong has been deftly moving the pieces of the puzzle from behind-the-scenes without anyone even being aware of his existence. The show’s writers consulted George R.R. Martin in this regard and decided to give the character a much more prominent role in the series, one that we’ll no doubt witness over the next couple of weeks as the entirety of the Clubfoot’s schemes come to fruition.