House of the Dragon episode 6 introduced a new Rhaenyra Targaryen. As the Game of Thrones prequel skips forward 10 years, Emma D’Arcy takes over from Milly Alcock in the lead role, while other characters Alicent, Leanor, and Laena are all played by new actors as well.
It’s a bold creative choice that has already caused a stir among viewers. But, it's also one that that fellow actor Matt Smith really relished. Smith plays Rhaenyra’s uncle Daemon Targaryen across the time-jump in the show and has one of the closest – and most complicated – relationships with the princess.
"I loved having two actors play the same part because it did a lot of the work for me," he explains to Total Film ahead of the show’s premiere. "Whereas you have to kind of imagine that stuff sometimes, there was just a real, physical, energetic change between the two actors that I found really useful and really entertaining to watch. And I think it really worked as a conceit."
The actors play Rhaenyra across different periods of her life. Alcock is the younger Rhaenyra during her teenage and adolescent years, beginning around age 15 up until the eve of her wedding at 17 while D’Arcy stars as the adult princess. Their story begins in episode six with the birth of Rhaenyra’s third child and continues throughout the remaining episodes.
However, despite all of these changes the young princess goes through, it seems one constant throughout the show will be Rhaenyra’s relationship with Daemon, which Smith describes as a deep connection.
"I think there's only really two people in the whole kingdom apart from his dragons, that [Daemon] will sort of concede to," he continues. "And one of them is Rhaenyra and the other is his brother. I think, you know, there's a deep affection and intimate understanding of one another, really – more so than he has with any other characters."
As the stakes get higher for the future heir to the Iron Throne, it will certainly be interesting to see how this develops in the second half of the HBO series. House of the Dragon airs weekly on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK. Keep track of when the episodes are out with our handy House of the Dragon release schedule.
