House of the Dragon Filming in Spain in October

[Jaenara Belarys]

31 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Ahhh I'm so excited to see Rhaenyra's sons! Rocking some Beatles hair too 

Just like the situation with Cersei (disputed parentage) all the way down to the name Joffrey. On a side note....who do y'all think fathered Rhaenyra's first three kids? 

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 hour ago, Jaenara Belarys said:

Just like the situation with Cersei (disputed parentage) all the way down to the name Joffrey. On a side note....who do y'all think fathered Rhaenyra's first three kids? 

I'm hoping it's still Harwin Strong in the show. He was more or less a blank slate in the books, so they could really develop him any way they want to.

[Lord Varys]

The way things look like we should get pretty much all the characters, I think. If the boys we see there are Jace and Luke, then we should also get to see Harwin Strong. After all, since they neither are blackish nor blonde, chances are pretty good that they will go with Harwin being the father there.

In turn, this could be a hint that we are going to get a gay Laenor and a faithful adaptation of his story, too.

9 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I'm hoping it's still Harwin Strong in the show. He was more or less a blank slate in the books, so they could really develop him any way they want to.

I'd expect that the Strongs are going to be very ambitious folks trying to take over the royal family.

[Thomaerys Velaryon]

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

In turn, this could be a hint that we are going to get a gay Laenor and a faithful adaptation of his story, too.

Seems like it which is a good think since the gay Laenor and Strong boys storylines directly feeds into the overall narative of Greens Vs. Blacks. I wonder how homophobic they will portray the characters. Will they give them the same "yeah he is gay, what of it ?" attitude as they gave to Olenna in GOT (in scenes such as this one) ? Grand Maester Mellos had this atitude in the books too, but I doubt they will all share his point of view.

Quote

But Grand Maester Mellos dismissed this concern out of hand. “What of it?” he is supposed to have said. “I am not fond of fish, but when fish is served, I eat it.” Thus was the match decided.
Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession

Speaking of Mellos, do you guys think we will see him ? Viserys had 3 Grand Maesters during his time: Runciter (101-112), Mellos (112-127) and Orwyle (127-131). Orwyle is clearly the most important of the three. I wonder if they will combine the three and just have Orwyle being the Grand Maester during the entire run of the show, like Pycelle was for GOT.

[Lord Varys]

1 minute ago, Thomaerys Velaryon said:

Seems like it which is a good think since the gay Laenor and Strong boys storylines directly feeds into the overall narative of Greens Vs. Blacks. I wonder how homophobic they will portray the characters. Will they give them the same "yeah he is gay, what of it ?" attitude as they gave to Olenna in GOT (in scenes such as this one) ? Grand Maester Mellos had this atitude in the books too, but I doubt they will all share his point of view.

It depends how they are going to present Alicent and Otto and Criston in general. But my guess would be that the issues between Rhaenyra and Alicent will be more personal than revolve around who fucks whom.

The best way to deal with this thing would be to portray it as what it was - a stupidly arranged marriage between two people who would never actually live together or have sex but were expected to have children by all the parties involved. Both Viserys I and Corlys/Rhaenys wanted grandchildren.

Laenor should be depicted as a very openly gay character - a man who does what he wants without regret or concern, completely secure in his status as a great-grandson of the Old King, the son of the richest man in Westeros, and a dragonrider. And the way I interpret things - if the boys aren't Laenor's in the book then Laenor is the one to be blamed for that. Because Laenor decided he would not live with Rhaenyra at court and later on Dragonstone. Not to mention that it was also Laenor who decided not to leave the bedside of the dying Joffrey Lonmouth at his wedding feast.

1 minute ago, Thomaerys Velaryon said:

Speaking of Mellos, do you guys think we will see him ? Viserys had 3 Grand Maesters during his time: Runciter (101-112), Mellos (112-127) and Orwyle (127-131). Orwyle is clearly the most important of the three. I wonder if they will combine the three and just have Orwyle being the Grand Maester during the entire run of the show, like Pycelle was for GOT.

I'm not sure. I think we should at least get two Grand Maesters for Viserys I since the story about Mellos' replacement is, in my opinion, rather crucial, and I think we are likely to get the entire thing about the cutting of tongues and Viserys I losing his fingers. Alicent and Rhaenyra bickering over who the new Grand Maester should be could be a great scene.

But they could also have three. I mean, Mellos' rather stupid support of the Laenor-Rhaenyra match shows how politically naive Grand Maesters can be - it might be fun to have multiple Grand Maesters pop up, some being savvy and smart, others stupid sycophants.

I think Orwyle should be portrayed as a rather young fellow who is completely out of his water at court, especially with the tensions between the two factions. He really seems to be a guy who gets caught in the crossfire and ends up with the Greens because not joining them would have meant either incarceration or the Beesbury treatment.

[The Dragon Demands]

MASSIVE new, high-quality spy photos posted in the Daily Mail UK again, of YOUNG RHAENYRA and YOUNG LAENOR

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9997123/House-Dragon-star-Milly-Alcock-seen-character-time-Game-Thrones-prequel.html

These were posted at around 8 am Eastern Standard Time so couldn't possibly have been from today's filming (Wednesday), must have just taken them some time to post Tuesday spy photos (in contrast, amateur spy photos on Reddit usually post as soon as possible, less concerned with checking all their boxes like a formal news site:

• Young Laenor is played by mixed-race British actor Theo Nate
• Confirmation that actor Solly McLeod is playing Joffrey Lonmouth, with photo (DailyMail mistakenly thinks he's Joffrey Velaryon, but he's standing next to Young Laenor the timeline would be impossible)
• One of these high res spy photos managed to show the filming "clapper", which seems to indicate that these younger versions are filming for episode 105 - still halfway through the season!

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/16/11/47992245-9997123-Namesake_The_character_of_Joffrey_is_not_to_be_confused_with_Gam-a-28_1631787572055.jpg

Some have questioned whether the "105" on it refers to "scene 105" not "episode 105"...but this matches the format we've seen on behind the scenes images of the clapper used on Game of Thrones: the episode number is always in the upper left (unless this has changed...) --- then of course we have the question of whether these are FLASHBACKS in episode 105, or if they're filming chronologically (we HOPE they're doing it chronologically it would be less confusing)

We also got a high resolution image of what Velaryon knight armor looks like

[The Bard of Banefort]

21 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said:

MASSIVE new, high-quality spy photos posted in the Daily Mail UK again, of YOUNG RHAENYRA and YOUNG LAENOR

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9997123/House-Dragon-star-Milly-Alcock-seen-character-time-Game-Thrones-prequel.html

These were posted at around 8 am Eastern Standard Time so couldn't possibly have been from today's filming (Wednesday), must have just taken them some time to post Tuesday spy photos (in contrast, amateur spy photos on Reddit usually post as soon as possible, less concerned with checking all their boxes like a formal news site:

• Young Laenor is played by mixed-race British actor Theo Nate
• Confirmation that actor Solly McLeod is playing Joffrey Lonmouth, with photo (DailyMail mistakenly thinks he's Joffrey Velaryon, but he's standing next to Young Laenor the timeline would be impossible)
• One of these high res spy photos managed to show the filming "clapper", which seems to indicate that these younger versions are filming for episode 105 - still halfway through the season!

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/16/11/47992245-9997123-Namesake_The_character_of_Joffrey_is_not_to_be_confused_with_Gam-a-28_1631787572055.jpg

Some have questioned whether the "105" on it refers to "scene 105" not "episode 105"...but this matches the format we've seen on behind the scenes images of the clapper used on Game of Thrones: the episode number is always in the upper left (unless this has changed...) --- then of course we have the question of whether these are FLASHBACKS in episode 105, or if they're filming chronologically (we HOPE they're doing it chronologically it would be less confusing)

We also got a high resolution image of what Velaryon knight armor looks like

I think it will be flashbacks. If the first half of the season used only the younger actors, then the press for this show would have been about those actors, since they’d be the main stars of season one.

I really like the costumes, but Rhaenyra’s wig could use some work lol.

Do they film the episodes in order?

[The Dragon Demands]

HUGE, High-resolution spy photo (taken by amateurs not Daily Mail) of Velaryon War Camp during the fighting in the Stepstones. Zoom in and you can see Corlys, Laenor, and Daemon around a map table:

https://preview.redd.it/rz889z4zrvn71.jpg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=263cd2f30d68e7e3838404850476110c9550e7da

Zooming in and cropped, FIRST APPEARANCE OF HOUSE CELTIGAR IN LIVE-ACTION!

We can see their heraldry on a shield: red crabs on white.

 

 

[The Bard of Banefort]

5 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

The way things look like we should get pretty much all the characters, I think. If the boys we see there are Jace and Luke, then we should also get to see Harwin Strong. After all, since they neither are blackish nor blonde, chances are pretty good that they will go with Harwin being the father there.

In turn, this could be a hint that we are going to get a gay Laenor and a faithful adaptation of his story, too.

I'd expect that the Strongs are going to be very ambitious folks trying to take over the royal family.

Do you think Larys was Daemon’s spy on the Green council? I don’t recall him ever directly trying to take down any of his secret nephews. I don’t know who else it could be.

I definitely think Laenor will be gay. The show is probably going to get a lot of backlash for killing him off though. 

If they make Criston a villain, he’ll probably be homophobic, much like he was in the book.
 

 

[Lord Varys]

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Do you think Larys was Daemon’s spy on the Green council? I don’t recall him ever directly trying to take down any of his secret nephews. I don’t know who else it could be.

Well, I guess it cannot be one of the guys Rhaenyra had executed later on, unless the guy was somebody who they felt betrayed by. Orwyle Rhaenyra humiliated publicly before Blood and Cheese so he should be out, too.

Larys Strong is a pretty good candidate to have played both sides even back then. The fact that he suggested the blood oath but later turned out to be the guy who put Aegon II down is another pretty big clue.

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I definitely think Laenor will be gay. The show is probably going to get a lot of backlash for killing him off though.

Well, that's the story. And they still can make Rhaenyra bisexual. There is the line about her being more than fond of Laena, so she could have female lovers later in addition to Daemon.

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

If they make Criston a villain, he’ll probably be homophobic, much like he was in the book.

That certainly could figure into it. He clearly seems to think Laenor is not worthy of Rhaenyra. But the core point of his motivation likely will be that he cannot suffer the fact that Rhaenyra would rather marry a man she doesn't love instead of him ... especially since she is going to make that to remain the heir.

His reason to destroy her will be to take from her what she apparently loved more than him - the Iron Throne.

[Jaenara Belarys]

21 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I'm hoping it's still Harwin Strong in the show. He was more or less a blank slate in the books, so they could really develop him any way they want to.

Thanks. Anybody else?

3 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Well, that's the story. And they still can make Rhaenyra bisexual. There is the line about her being more than fond of Laena, so she could have female lovers later in addition to Daemon.

 

I don't remember FaB saying that she took other female lovers after Daemon. Did she do that? 

3 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I'm hoping it's still Harwin Strong in the show. He was more or less a blank slate in the books, so they could really develop him any way they want to.

 The Littlefinger of the Dance. 

[The Bard of Banefort]

3 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Well, I guess it cannot be one of the guys Rhaenyra had executed later on, unless the guy was somebody who they felt betrayed by. Orwyle Rhaenyra humiliated publicly before Blood and Cheese so he should be out, too.

Larys Strong is a pretty good candidate to have played both sides even back then. The fact that he suggested the blood oath but later turned out to be the guy who put Aegon II down is another pretty big clue.

Well, that's the story. And they still can make Rhaenyra bisexual. There is the line about her being more than fond of Laena, so she could have female lovers later in addition to Daemon.

That certainly could figure into it. He clearly seems to think Laenor is not worthy of Rhaenyra. But the core point of his motivation likely will be that he cannot suffer the fact that Rhaenyra would rather marry a man she doesn't love instead of him ... especially since she is going to make that to remain the heir.

His reason to destroy her will be to take from her what she apparently loved more than him - the Iron Throne.

Thinking about it now, I'm not sure there's any other viable option for who Daemon's source on the green council was. Rhaenyra executed Ironrod and tortured Tyland, so they're out, and like you said, she seemed to despise Orwyle. I always thought there was something especially wicked about how Larys sought to bring down his own nephews, but looking back now, I can't really find any evidence that he did. All three of their deaths were beyond his reach (I guess he might have known about Aemond going to Storm's End, but it's not clear. That said, Joffrey was still alive when he smuggled Aegon out of King's Landing). What's most curious though is why the greens weren't more suspicious of him from the outset, given that he was a Strong.

I've seen the theory that their was some canoodling between Rhaenyra and Laena, but I feel like if they really were having an affair, we would have gotten a report from Mushroom about it lol. Either way, I don't think she was intimately involved with Daemon during this time, since Harwin was still with her on Dragonstone and that would have inevitably led to some tension.

 

Assuming those guys were Jace and Luke, there are still three kids we haven't seen yet: Joffrey, Baela, and Rhaena. I very much doubt they'll cut Baela, but I'm less certain about Rhaena, since she was mostly absent during the war. I could also see them cutting Joff, since Rhaenyra would still have an heir in Aegon III. Since Aegon and Viserys both eventually become kings, I would hope that the show keeps them both, even if only as bit parts.

I'm also hoping they keep Jace alive longer on the show. He was a great character, and it was a real shame that he died as early on as he did. I felt much more sad about his death than about Daemon's.

[The Dragon Demands]

I always thought that Rhaenyra just wasn't in on that Orwyle was the spy.

[Sotan]

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Assuming those guys were Jace and Luke, there are still three kids we haven't seen yet: Joffrey, Baela, and Rhaena

Some of the fandom believe the two girls in this video are Baela and Rhaena. 

 

 

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 hour ago, Sotan said:

Some of the fandom believe the two girls in this video are Baela and Rhaena. 

 

 

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

1 hour ago, The Dragon Demands said:

I always thought that Rhaenyra just wasn't in on that Orwyle was the spy.

Wouldn't Daemon have told her? He was there when Orwyle came to present Aegon's terms.

[Sotan]

50 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome. Also it just hit me for the 100th time that Rhaenyra is both stepmother to the Dragon Twins and their first cousin. And if the girls had married Rhaenyra's boys she would be stepmother, cousin and mother-in-law. Targ incest is a damn mess LOL. 

[Sotan]

8 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

His reason to destroy her will be to take from her what she apparently loved more than him - the Iron Throne.

I hope these writers are reading this forum. Some of you guys know this text inside and out. 

[Lord Varys]

10 hours ago, Jaenara Belarys said:

I don't remember FaB saying that she took other female lovers after Daemon. Did she do that? 

Nope, but who cares? If she had a thing for Laena that stuff would have happened before her death and thus also before she started her thing with Daemon.

10 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Thinking about it now, I'm not sure there's any other viable option for who Daemon's source on the green council was. Rhaenyra executed Ironrod and tortured Tyland, so they're out, and like you said, she seemed to despise Orwyle. I always thought there was something especially wicked about how Larys sought to bring down his own nephews, but looking back now, I can't really find any evidence that he did. All three of their deaths were beyond his reach (I guess he might have known about Aemond going to Storm's End, but it's not clear. That said, Joffrey was still alive when he smuggled Aegon out of King's Landing). What's most curious though is why the greens weren't more suspicious of him from the outset, given that he was a Strong.

Larys certainly would have known that Aemond went to Storm's End when he left ... but he wouldn't have known that Rhaenyra had sent Luke there.

One assumes that Larys made himself appear a die-hard Green to save his neck and ensure they would not turn against him. It might be that he only saved Aegon's life and hid his children to have leverage should he be captured by Rhaenyra. After all, when Rhaenyra took the capital so much had already happened that Larys could not expect to be spared even if he had also sent reports to Dragonstone in the beginning of the war. Jace and Luke and Rhaenys were dead, Driftmark had been sacked, crucial allies of Rhaenyra's had been executed.

If he was motivated by something along those lines then him arranging the riots and installing Trystane Truefyre on the Iron Throne may also have been a way to save himself and the city. While everybody thought the Hightower army and their dragons would descend on the city the only way to save the people would have been to get rid of Rhaenyra before they arrived.

Thinking along those lines might make more sense than assuming he was, for some reason, a loyal Green who only turned against Aegon II at the very end. Because, frankly, the impression I have is that he was always working with Corlys Velaryon against Aegon II from the moment the latter was restored to the throne.

10 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I've seen the theory that their was some canoodling between Rhaenyra and Laena, but I feel like if they really were having an affair, we would have gotten a report from Mushroom about it lol. Either way, I don't think she was intimately involved with Daemon during this time, since Harwin was still with her on Dragonstone and that would have inevitably led to some tension.

We don't really know whether Rhaenyra was still interested in Harwin in the later 110s. He was still her champion, but she hung out a lot on Driftmark and spent time with Laena and Daemon. If they still had sex in that time Rhaenyra should have had more children. But that only started when she had sex with Daemon.

10 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Assuming those guys were Jace and Luke, there are still three kids we haven't seen yet: Joffrey, Baela, and Rhaena. I very much doubt they'll cut Baela, but I'm less certain about Rhaena, since she was mostly absent during the war. I could also see them cutting Joff, since Rhaenyra would still have an heir in Aegon III. Since Aegon and Viserys both eventually become kings, I would hope that the show keeps them both, even if only as bit parts.

The way things are right now I'd be very surprised if they cut any members of the royal family. People are going to die, after all, starting with Laena and Laenor and the elder Strongs, so there is room for more. And when the Dance starts, even more folks are going to die, starting with Viserys I himself.

Them increasing Laena and Laenor's roles by making them and Rhaenys part of the Stepstones campaign indicates they might use similar tactics to increase the roles of the twins during the Dance.

10 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I'm also hoping they keep Jace alive longer on the show. He was a great character, and it was a real shame that he died as early on as he did. I felt much more sad about his death than about Daemon's.

He can die the way he does, in my opinion, depending how slowly the war is going to progress. What they should do, I think, is making Daeron and Jace close friends who are not really interested in fighting. They are of the same age and it is a little bit much that everybody hated each other. Helaena could also like Rhaenyra and Jace. They could expand the entire anecdote about Jace asking Helaena for a dance, making them friends or even people who would have liked to marry each other if their families would have allowed it.

9 hours ago, The Dragon Demands said:

I always thought that Rhaenyra just wasn't in on that Orwyle was the spy.

That is, of course, also a possibility, but would Rhaenyra and Daemon then have kept him imprisoned after they took the city? I don't think so. Rhaenyra may not have known about Orwyle being a spy when he came as an envoy to Dragonstone, but Daemon should have told her later.

Also, Orwyle was a new man at court, an archmaester chosen by the Conclave with no connections to either party - making it rather unlikely that Daemon (who lived on Dragonstone with Rhaenyra) was able to get him on his payroll.

6 hours ago, Sotan said:

I hope these writers are reading this forum. Some of you guys know this text inside and out. 

I'm pretty sure they do. Or at least did when they were starting to write the scripts.

[The Bard of Banefort]

4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Nope, but who cares? If she had a thing for Laena that stuff would have happened before her death and thus also before she started her thing with Daemon.

Larys certainly would have known that Aemond went to Storm's End when he left ... but he wouldn't have known that Rhaenyra had sent Luke there.

One assumes that Larys made himself appear a die-hard Green to save his neck and ensure they would not turn against him. It might be that he only saved Aegon's life and hid his children to have leverage should he be captured by Rhaenyra. After all, when Rhaenyra took the capital so much had already happened that Larys could not expect to be spared even if he had also sent reports to Dragonstone in the beginning of the war. Jace and Luke and Rhaenys were dead, Driftmark had been sacked, crucial allies of Rhaenyra's had been executed.

If he was motivated by something along those lines then him arranging the riots and installing Trystane Truefyre on the Iron Throne may also have been a way to save himself and the city. While everybody thought the Hightower army and their dragons would descend on the city the only way to save the people would have been to get rid of Rhaenyra before they arrived.

Thinking along those lines might make more sense than assuming he was, for some reason, a loyal Green who only turned against Aegon II at the very end. Because, frankly, the impression I have is that he was always working with Corlys Velaryon against Aegon II from the moment the latter was restored to the throne.

We don't really know whether Rhaenyra was still interested in Harwin in the later 110s. He was still her champion, but she hung out a lot on Driftmark and spent time with Laena and Daemon. If they still had sex in that time Rhaenyra should have had more children. But that only started when she had sex with Daemon.

The way things are right now I'd be very surprised if they cut any members of the royal family. People are going to die, after all, starting with Laena and Laenor and the elder Strongs, so there is room for more. And when the Dance starts, even more folks are going to die, starting with Viserys I himself.

Them increasing Laena and Laenor's roles by making them and Rhaenys part of the Stepstones campaign indicates they might use similar tactics to increase the roles of the twins during the Dance.

He can die the way he does, in my opinion, depending how slowly the war is going to progress. What they should do, I think, is making Daeron and Jace close friends who are not really interested in fighting. They are of the same age and it is a little bit much that everybody hated each other. Helaena could also like Rhaenyra and Jace. They could expand the entire anecdote about Jace asking Helaena for a dance, making them friends or even people who would have liked to marry each other if their families would have allowed it.

That is, of course, also a possibility, but would Rhaenyra and Daemon then have kept him imprisoned after they took the city? I don't think so. Rhaenyra may not have known about Orwyle being a spy when he came as an envoy to Dragonstone, but Daemon should have told her later.

Also, Orwyle was a new man at court, an archmaester chosen by the Conclave with no connections to either party - making it rather unlikely that Daemon (who lived on Dragonstone with Rhaenyra) was able to get him on his payroll.

I'm pretty sure they do. Or at least did when they were starting to write the scripts.

Joffrey was only three at the time of Laena’s funeral, and he and Luke (as well as Aegon and Viserys) were two years apart, so it’s not that strange that she hadn’t gotten pregnant again by that point. Plus there was a seven-year gap between Viserys’ birth and his stillborn sister. I don’t think Rhaenyra would have kept Harwin as her champion if she was no longer interested in him.

I don’t remember Larys’ connection to Trystane Truefyre, so I’m going to have to re-read that part. There are surprisingly few fan theories about Larys’ allegiances. 

[Lord Varys]

2 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Joffrey was only three at the time of Laena’s funeral, and he and Luke (as well as Aegon and Viserys) were two years apart, so it’s not that strange that she hadn’t gotten pregnant again by that point. Plus there was a seven-year gap between Viserys’ birth and his stillborn sister. I don’t think Rhaenyra would have kept Harwin as her champion if she was no longer interested in him.

I guess Rhaenyra's fertility dropped as she grew older ... and Daemon wasn't exactly a young man, either. And their marriage doesn't seem to have been that happy, so perhaps intercourse was rather infrequent after Viserys' birth.

I'm not so sure Rhaenyra was that much into Harwin, anyway. He was her third choice, after all. First Daemon, then Criston Cole, then Harwin. He could have just been the guy she chose to be the father of her children, not somebody she was deeply in love with. If that were the case then the whole thing was less romance and more business relationship.

2 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I don’t remember Larys’ connection to Trystane Truefyre, so I’m going to have to re-read that part. There are surprisingly few fan theories about Larys’ allegiances. 

Larys Strong was the guy behind Perkin the Flea - and Perkin put Trystane Truefyre on the Iron Throne. If Trystane was truly a bastard of Viserys I then one could, perhaps, assume another parallel between Larys and Varys: In the main series Varys as Master of Whisperers looks after the royal bastards. Larys Strong may have had a similar task during the reign of Viserys I.