House of the Dragon Co-Creator Breaks Down Episode 3’s Chilling Cameo

Sunday night’s new episode of took Daemon to the potentially haunted remains of Harrenhal, as he continued his quest to raise an army in the Riverlands and march on King’s Landing. This time in the Strong castle is going to prove more difficult than he imagined, though, with the Targaryen prince already experiencing a horrifying vision that brought a familiar face from House of the Dragon Season 1 back to haunt him. WARNING: This article contains spoilers from House of the Dragon Season 2! Continue reading at your own risk…

During a waking vision at Harrenhal, Daemon was led to a room where he encountered Rhaenyra, rocking in a chair and sewing the head of the deceased young prince Jaehaerys back on his body. This Rhaenyra wasn’t the one he’s used to seeing, however. House of the Dragon Season 1 star Milly Alcock secretly reprised her role as young Rhaenyra for the brief cameo.

“It was very easy in terms of will,” co-creator Ryan Condal told EW of the Alcock reunion. “We were excited abut the prospect. Milly was eager to come back and everybody was excited to have her back.”

“She’s very busy, so it was a tricky thing to navigate around the schedule, but we essentially had her in for a couple of days right at the start of production,” he continued. “I think one of our greatest feats was keeping that a secret all the way through, given that it happened right at the beginning.”

The addition of a young Rhaenyra in that scene really gave Harrenhal the “haunted house” feel that the creative team desired. It also put him through an experience that quite literally brought his demons to light.

“Instead of warfare or dragons or images of horror, it was really more of him being haunted by these people who he had done wrong in his past, particularly young Rhaenyra,” Condal explained. “That’s the girl who took his claim, not elder Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy. It’s the version of Rhaenyra that removed him as heir to the throne, and then was named heir and took his claim. As you’ll see his story at Harrenhal unfold, there is an element of Daemon having to reckon with his past and choices that he’s made and things that he’s done.”

Based on George R.R. Martin‘s “Fire & Blood” book, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. In Season 2 of House of the Dragon, Westeros is on the brink of a bloody civil war with the Green and Black Councils fighting for King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra, respectively. New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

The cast for House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, and Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower.