A new sneak-peek teaser that dropped Sunday night confirms that Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke will officially make their debut as the adult versions of the lead characters.
It's halfway through House of the Dragon and things aren't the same anymore. A new sneak-peek teaser that dropped Sunday night confirms that Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke will officially make their debut as the adult versions of the lead characters—Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower—in House of the Dragon episode 6.
The trailer begins with the former friends having an icy square-off at the King's small council. It proceeds to focus on the two women's children, who will play key roles in the impending civil war. Prince Aegon II is now a teenager, played by actor Tom Glynn-Carney. Laena Velaryon is also much older and played by Swedish actor Nanna Blondell. She is seen having a child of her own and riding a dragon (possibly Vhagar) alongside Prince Daemon.
The trailer for Episode 06 of #HOTD featuring Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke for the first time in the roles of Rhaenyra and Alicentpic.twitter.com/NFgpuoiQdk
— MovieRankings.net (@LightsCameraPod) September 19, 2022
It looks like Milly Alcock and Emily Carey's time playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower is seemingly at an end after the release of episode 5 this week. Sunday's episode 5, entitled We Light the Way, showed Rhaenyra finally agreeing to a marriage of convenience with her cousin, Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate). King Viserys throws a wedding feast for the young couple, which ends in gruesome bloodshed. Rhaenyra's Kingsguard and lover Ser Criston Cole, marred by guilt and frustration, brutally murders Laenor's secret lover Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) in front of all the guests. Rhaenyra and Laenor are then forced to continue their wedding vows just moments after the tragic incident. It's a fitting closing ceremony to the first part of the series, as House of the Dragon changes gear halfway through the season.
I am so in for Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke. Their inclusion will add a deeper pathos and level of drama to these two powerful women who are already fleshed out by two remarkable young actors. #HouseTargaryen #HouseOfTheDragon pic.twitter.com/yV0tMEf0NP
— Punk Popcorn (Rob DiLauro) (@RobertDiLauro3) September 14, 2022
Ryan Condal, who co-created House of the Dragon with George R. R. Martin, previously explained to EW how important the decision was to start with Rhaenyra and Alicent in their youth. "They are central female characters who are at once credited and also blamed with this particular war," Condal explained. "Because the history is written by men, we were really interested in the dynamic forces that a certain medieval level of innate chauvinism puts on the two women. Our show is, at its core, the story of the dissolution of this very close female friendship that began in a very young and impressionable point in these girls' lives."
Watch the trailer below: