Emma D'Arcy on House Of The Dragon Season 3: "One of the big questions it asks is how much suffering should a civilian population endure as part of a military campaign"

A prequel spin-off from cultural phenomenon Game Of Thrones, since debuting in 2022, House Of The Dragon has also become a major international hit. The show’s third season commences shortly, before it wraps up with its fourth and final series. This season will see the usual mix familiar from the work of original Thrones author George RR Martin, with political intrigue, personal drama and epic action, including the incredible Battle of the Gullet.

One of the most famous battle sequences in Martin’s entire series, the bloody naval showdown sees the Triarchy (an alliance of three Fire Cities) launch a surprise attack against the Velaryon blockade that’s choking King’s Landing. Again at the centre of the action are the married duo of Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy). The latter becomes more aggressive in pursuing the Iron Throne, while Daemon remains her key military commander as the war escalatees.

As the season unfolds, their relationship comes under increasing strain.

“I think they start more unified than we’ve seen them for a season or so,” says D’Arcy. “But as the season progresses, there are rival visions for Rhaenyra’s premiership. Daemon has a very specific idea of what her leadership style ought to be, and that’s a growing source of tension. There are other close allies who have conflicting thoughts about how Rhaenyra should lead. There’s a power struggle – that’s part of their relationship, and one of them is about to become the monarch.”

“The private, the personal and the professional are all at stake the whole time,” notes Smith. “They’re having to deal with these problems in front of people, and then go home and be private. So all of these things add to a complex ball of energy between the two.”

D’Arcy notes that, again, the show has certain real world resonances.

“This series is the anatomy of a war,” says D’Arcy. “One of the big questions it asks is how much suffering should a civilian population endure as part of a military campaign. I would say that’s a moral dilemma that’s plagued humanity since the advent of aerial bombardment and remote warfare. Sadly, it’s a question that feels extremely poignant today.”

Also central to the action once again is Corlys Velaryon, played by Steve Toussaint, who begins the season grieving the death of his wife, though he remains one of Rhaenyra’s most important allies. As it happens, on the weekend prior to our chat, I’d seen Toussaint appearing on TNT Sport’s Champions League final coverage in Budapest, alongside fellow Arsenal fan Dara O Briain.

While I’ve no idea if Corlys is an Arsenal fan, the character – who commands the Velaryon fleet during the Battle of the Gullet – certainly has an interesting trajectory this season.

“Well, first of all Corlys is an Arsenal fan, even though he doesn’t know it!” quips Toussaint. “To play out the battle was great. Before we started to shoot it, our director Loni invited us to watch Master And Commander. Russell Crowe’s brilliant, I liked what he did. What Loni was saying to me was, ‘This environment is where Corlys is most at ease.’ Cos if we look through the other seasons, whenever there’s any trouble, he disappears to the sea for a few years. That’s where it makes sense.

“To finally have an extended sequence where he’s totally in his element was a joy. There’s a scene where we’re going through some kind of tight space, and there’s a young man trying to steer the ship through. But he can’t and Corlys eventually goes, ‘Let me do it.’ Cos he has memorised this stuff. I liked all of that – it says, ‘This is what he’s good at.’ So for me, it was very fulfilling as a character.”

Elsewhere, there’s tension between Corlys and his illegitimate son Alyn (Abubakar Salim) over the question of legacy.

“These days, we use the word privilege quite a lot,” considers Toussaint. “There’s white privilege, male privilege, able-bodied privilege. When you use privilege in that way, it’s not about, you get this wonderful stuff. It’s the things you can live without – things that don’t worry you. So Corlys has privilege, because he doesn’t have to worry about survival. He is rich, so he can afford to be thinking about legacy, and what’s going to happen years down the road.

“Whereas, Alyn is just trying to survive day-to-day. That in itself is a tension. Because for Corlys, if they were to have that discussion, he would be like, ‘You’ve got to think about your children, and what happens hundreds of years from now.’ And Alyn is like, ‘I just want fucking bread for tomorrow.’ And that is a major source of tension, as it is in our world.”

Returning to Daemon and Rhaenyra, it’s interesting that the duo present more of a direct threat themselves this season, rather than relying on their dragons.

“Like with any pet, it’s the owner,” says Smith. “I kind of see Caraxes as my pet. When I did my screen-test, my pitch to (co-showrunner) Miguel Sapochnik was, ‘I wanna see John Lennon on a dragon.’ We were talking about The Beatles somehow. It’s a very pertinent point – I certainly think it’s the owner of the beast.”

“There is a growing religious fervour in Rhaenyra,” adds D’Arcy. “Increasingly, in this season, we see her lean on her faith. As the parts of her campaign fall into place, she does feel there is something fated there. There’s a relinquishing of doubt, and possibly a reduction of self-critique that comes with that religious fervour. I think that carries an inherent danger this season, actually.”

The actor also notes certain enjoyable aspects that come with starring in an ongoing show.

“The real joy of playing a recurring character is that the operating system is already set up,” says D’Arcy. “It gets refined and developed as each season progresses. That’s a new experience for me and one I’m really enjoying. There’s something lovely about coming into the third season and having a really intimate knowledge of the character, actually. And an operating system that feels total – it’s something you can really trust.

“That means when you get a really amazing set of scripts, like we did at at the start of last year, there’s a lot of excitement about doing those new events. And not necessarily anticipating in advance what the outcomes and behaviour will be – you sort of allow that to be discovered on set.”

For Smith’s part, does he feel there might be similarities between Daemon and previous characters he’s portrayed, such as Prince Philip in The Crown, or even anti-hero Bunny Munro, the titular protagonist of the series adapted from Nick Cave’s novel?

“Well, Daemon and Prince Philip are both blonde and they’re both princes, so there was an immediacy there, I suppose,” he says. “One tries not to judge them comparatively, but if you were to look for it, they’re both outsiders in their own family. There probably are similarities, but because the worlds and form are so different, I don’t draw too much comparison.

“In terms of Bunny, there wasn’t any conscious similarity. Again, they’re both operating on the outside of their societies. But obviously, one’s on a dragon and one isn’t. What was great with both of them was the initial challenge of going, ‘Oh wow, I wonder how you do that?’ Particularly with Bunny, it was a question.

“Because I read it and was like, ‘Fucking hell, man.’ Daemon has a similar thing, he marries his niece and betrays his brother, but he’s in love with his brother. All this mad stuff is going on. I suppose the allure was in the challenge of them as men, really.”

“One of your great talents is to make incredibly dark and complex characters profoundly sympathetic,” says D’Arcy to Smith. “That is your genius, I think. That maybe is the similarity, is that Matt graces both of them with that great talent.”

House of The Dragon

Do both actors have a prop or costume that helps them find character?

“I’d have to say the wig, simply because it’s so immediately transformational,” says D’Arcy. “It changes so much about your demeanour and the way you hold yourself. And weirdly, if there’s quite an extreme change in your appearance, it also changes how you’re treated by people around you, so your reality shifts fractionally. I find that to be the most noticeably affecting bit of my dress.”

“I would have to concur,” adds Smith. “When you put the wig on in the morning, it’s funny how, when you take it off at the end of the day, you really notice. You’re like, ‘God, there’s actually a whole other person underneath there.’”

Zooming out a bit, in both Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon, Martin treats weighty topics like politics and warfare with notable sophistication. Does D’Arcy think that’s a big part of the reason his writing is so enormously popular?

“I do,” says the actor. “I also think the reason science fiction and fantasy are such popular genres, is that something about the slight dislocation offered by those styles, weirdly offers us a petri dish in which to observe human behaviour. George is extraordinaily adept at thinking about strategy, and that remains ever pertinent.”

Smith, meanwhile, notes additional elements of House Of The Dragon’s appeal.

“Dragons, fire, blood, war, incest,” he concludes. “What’s not to tune into?”

• House Of The Dragon season three is streaming on HBO Max from June 22.