House of the Dragon Pilot Script Published

[Westeros]

As part of its Emmy awards coverage, Deadline has been publishing examples of episode scripts that have been submitted for consdieration as final nominees, and now we’ve come to House of the Dragon‘s turn as they have now published the pilot script for the first episode, “The Heirs of the Dragon”, and they’ve done so in a draft that includes various revisions, some of which were scenes or pieces of dialog that never made it to the final cut of the production.

There’s some particularly interesting discussion between Viserys and Daemon regarding the Targaryens and their dragons that was dropped, and I notice that it seems like our first introduction to Daemon was supposed to be his commanding the City Watch on its violent purge (notice that all the detailed description of Daemon and Dark Sister in that section)... but then at some point it was decided that instead we should first meet him in a scene that focuses his relationship to Rhaenyra, in the throne room.

https://www.westeros.org/Graphics/Images/_medium/HotD_S01E01_Script.png

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[The Dragon Demands]

I started a separate forum post about this, I'll merge it here:

Deadline just released the script for House of the Dragon episode 1, as part of a "Page to Screen" series: 

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/House-Of-The-Dragon-It-Starts-On-The-Page.pdf

It's not quite "the" pilot script, as there's no such thing: scripts go through multiple versions and revisions. So this is a snapshot. Interestingly, it does have color-coded pages for each version: White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Gold. For example, the Harrenhal pages at the beginning kept being revised so they're Gold to indicate a recent revision; but the next page with Rhaenyra's introduction is in Pink, indicating that it stayed that way for a while. The Rhaenyra & Alicent in the godswood scene is in Blue, indicating it was even older. 

GRRM did corroborate on this script with Condal, both their names are on it, though we're not sure how much.

I went through the whole thing scene by scene with an open copy of the finished episode - which is free online on YouTube as a preview of the whole TV show, link if you need it: 

1 - The voiceover in the Great Council Prologue was slightly changed: subtitles confirm that it's actually Jaehaerys who announces the result of the vote, but that's not in the script (it's off-screen so they added it in post-production). In the original script, there's an extra line by Rhaenyra's VO saying "the vote was twenty to one".  I wondered about this because the Rhaenys actress Eve Best remarked in behind the scenes videos that she lost twenty to one, and I wondered how she knew that because it wasn't a line in the finished episode. It's from the script. This is one of the few points I think they should have kept in the final version.

2 - The original titlecard doesn't mention Daenerys, instead it frames it as "171 years before Robert's Rebellion and the death of Aerys the Mad King" - final version is "172 years before the death of the Mad King and the birth of his daughter Daenerys Targaryen" (good change)

3 - We were horrified when we got our hands on D&D's Game of Thrones scripts as they break several basic rules of screenwriting; as they've ranted at length in videos, "we think we're capable of making scenes where actors don't speak and just convey exposition through their facial expressions" ...which is...not true. HotD's script doesn't do that at all, there aren't lengthy script notes. There's a line here or a line there indicating the tone a character delivers a line with, but it looks like a NORMAL script. The only time it gives paragraph long instructions are when it introduces a new group of characters or a new location: a full paragraph explaining what the Dragonkeepers are because we haven't seen them before. A short paragraph explaining that Flea Bottom is a dangerous slum district. This is just info it's not micromanaging the actors' performances.  

4 - The script repeatedly mentions that it is Spring in King's Landing, all the trees and plants are in bloom, warm colors. I checked this seems to be new info, the book doesn't say what season it was (plus episode 1 is set in the year 112 AC due to aging up Rhaenyra). 

5 - Rhaenyra & Alicent walking arm in arm into Red Keep actually had dialogue, and you can tell they're talking if you look closely at the final version which just had the music swelling. It had "flirty" playful dialogue. Of course the internet ate that up, but I think it's just them joking around with mock-flirtyness. "Oh no my mother will be angry I'm late; can you be my Sworn Protector?" (they're joking). This re-ordered some of the Aemma dialogue in the immediately following scene; Aemma says she can smell the dragon on Rhaenyra because pregnancy enhanced her sense of smell.

6  - A few more lines here and there in the first small council meeting, trimmed for time; Corlys is a little more forceful in it, though not unreasonably. They're ALL eating breakfast with plates and cups everywhere, not just Viserys, and Corlys has to physically push their plates aside to set down his map of the Stepstones; Beesbury ineffectually tries to interject a little more about the City Watch before they finally discuss it. It's more about "blocking" than dialogue differences; maybe they thought this makes Corlys look a little TOO brusk?  

7 - MOVED scene: in script, it goes from the Rhaenyra & Alicent godswood scene to Aemma in the tub; final version puts Viserys's infected wound between these scenes; that scene is in the original script but happens later; after Daemon at the small council but before Mysaria's introduction. Script notes after that also indicate a little more that Viserys's hidden illness is one of the things motivating/concerning Otto and Mellos - at the later small council scene discussing the succession the notes explain that when they say "should something happen to you" all three (Viserys, Otto, Mellos) know that they're privately referring (as the rest of the council doesn't know) that they actually have reason to worry about his health, so this isn't just a hypothetical but he needs to address it. Moving the scene earlier affects the context, makes it clear during the tub scene that Viserys wants a son because he's worried about his own health and wants to make sure the succession is secure.

8 - Daemon at Small Council cut dialogue about Rhea Royce: "We understand from Lord Yorbert that [ you've not been seen in the Vale for some time ], Queen Aemma was very proud to have arranged your union with Lady Rhea." A - This sets up Yorbert much earlier, though I guess they cut this because they don't want to barrage the audience with too many new names just yet, B - ....I don't think the books ever explained whey Daemon was married to Rhea. This script says it was Aemma Arryn's idea - GRRM did work on this script. Maybe a favor to her Arryn relatives to find a match for a powerful vassal?

9 - "The Heir's Tourney": trimmed scenes and dialogue:

• Note mentions it has "200 knights from every house and hedge great and small";
• Notes that TV Laenor is older than Laena, 14 to 12 - was his age stated on-screen? hers was)
• There was a SHORT deleted moment setting up Borros Baratheon: right after Boremund is introduced, Rhaenyra and Alicent: "I hear Boremund's heir can't read even though he's 23 years old" "yeah they call him Dumb as Thunder";
• Most smallfolk love Daemon, but there's a deleted moment we heard of when someone from the stands jeers "Lord Flea Bottom!" and he shoots him such an "I'm going to kill you" look that he sits down. (We'd heard rumors of this "Lord Flea Bottom" line from leaks that came months before the episode aired)
• Deleted dialogue where Alicent says Daemon will probably pick a knight from one of the Great Houses to joust with, then surprised when he picks her brother.
• Some of the stuntwork is different, of course, as this is just a script. It says Daemon doesn't strike Gwayne's horse, but deftly deflects Gwayne's lance downward so it drives into the ground, and Gwayne's own momentum drives him into the ground and sends him sprawling (maybe they weren't sure if they could do a more complicated stunt; it's a prop horse that flips, artful editing, safety with live animals, etc.)

10 - Heir's Tourney REORDERED scenes:  there are 8 scenes in the whole thing, and while the dialogue is the same the order got slightly reshuffled, changing the context.
FINAL order in aired episode:

1. Criston Cole unhorses a Tarly
2. Boremund Baratheon is introduced
3. Rhaenyra & Alicent gossip about Elinor Stokeworth
4. Boremund unhorsed by Criston, Rhaenyra asks Harrold who he is
5. Daemon vs Gwayne Hightower
6. a maester arrives who whispers to Otto, who then whispers to Viserys, that something's wrong with Aemma, and he leaves
7. "The Day Turns Ugly" montage, as Rhaenys explains that there hasn't been a real war in almost 70 years. This intercuts with Aemma screaming.
8. Criston vs Daemon (also intercutting with Aemma's C-section)

ORIGINAL order (in this version of the script, at least):

1. Criston unhorses a Tarly
2. Rhaenyra & Alicent gossip about Elinor Stokeworth
3. THEN Boremund Baratheon is introduced
4. Daemon vs Gwayne (final version this happens AFTER Boremund is unhorsed)
5. Criston unhorses Boremund
6. Criston vs Daemon (Viserys is STILL PRESENT for this)
7. maester comes to whisper that Aemma is in trouble, Viserys leaves
8. "And the Day Turns Ugly" (THIS is in montage with Aemma's bloody C-section; later changed so most if it happens in montage with Daemon vs Criston)

11 - A rather major difference: in the script, Aemma is barely conscious when the C-section begins and not coherent enough to plead "No! Please!" -- They make this clear, Viserys asks if she's better because the screams have stopped; Mellos says no, it just means she's so exhausted she's barely alive and doesn't have the energy to scream anymore, this is very bad. Also emphasizes in script notes that she's medicated with milk of the poppy as much as possible so she's "looking through drugged eyes" and groggy etc. She DOES scream when the C-section begins but it notes it's more "animalistic" thrashing, she's hovering on the edge of consciousness. It DOES have her ask "what's happening?" and Viserys says "they're going to take the babe out" but after that she's incoherent. The final version made her a LOT more cognizant and coherent of what's going on. 

12 - Deleted scene we know they filmed: Rhaenyra comes to the empty bed chamber, Aemma's body has been removed but the white sheets are soaked with blood ("it looks like an animal was slaughtered in it"), and Viserys sitting there stunned and ashen faced. They exchange no dialogue, she can't bring herself to cross the door's threshold into the room, leaves. Mellos returns, Viserys asks how Baelon is doing, but Mellos is stone-faced. Don't hear what he says, because it then cuts to the funeral. 

13 - The funeral was on Rhaenys's Hill, apparently at the Dragonpit, with hundreds of spectators, not outside the city. They might have changed this due to COVID restrictions - they HATED the exterior location they used for this in the final version, a remote seaside cliff in Devon, took hours to get there on muddy roads.

14 - Deleted scene we know they filmed: Rhaenyra coming back from the funeral to Alicent in her chambers, finally bursts into tears and they crumple to the floor sobbing. No dialogue. The actors said this was the first scene they filmed (or maybe Alicent's first scene? I thought Rhaenyra & Viserys at Balerion's skull was her first scene. Was it their first scene overall or first scene together?)

15 - Third small council scene, discussing the succession: no mention that Daemon is listening from a secret passage. Several longer pieces of dialogue. Beesbury asks why they can't just hold another Great Council. Mellos says that most lords would vote for Daemon because of the precedent of the last council, Lyonel Strong insists "yeah, because it's the precedent we set!"

16 - Daemon's a lot more violent and MERCURIAL, unpredictable, in a way that doesn't translate well on screen. Throughout the entire script. In the brothel earlier, when Mysaria puts a hand on him he smacks it away but then leans into her hug; and at the end of her consoling him, it says he gives her a look that he doesn't know whether to slap her in the face or burst into tears, because he DOES feel bad, should he be ashamed that she's consoling him? Even he doesn't know. Little bits like that throughout. He's a hard character to write for. Practically bipolar - though in real life people with bipolar disorder don't switch moods ON A DIME within mere minutes like this. 

17 - Daemon's "Heir for a Day" speech is shown in full and not presented in montage. It's more the WAY he says it. That he's so unpredictable and unreadable; that for a moment none of the gold cloaks can tell if he's saying this with bitter sarcasm or if he's really being flippant about the baby's death, and then they sort of just roll with it and INTERPRET it as him being flippant when that's not the way he said it. I think it works better to leave it off screen. NO, the actor's face and delivery can't convey something that subtle. And they wrote this WITH Matt Smith in mind, he was hand-picked. THEN the small council reports it, and this extends a little longer; Viserys is so upset he sweeps his wine cup off the table.

18 - The final montage wasn't intercut quite as much (this is just script, the director added in better cinematography elements); Alicent helps Rhaenyra put the robes on, then we see the first half of the swearing in, then the rest of the prophecy, then the final shot. It intercuts a little more in the final version (for the better). 

19 - A little point lost is that Boremund VERY reluctantly kneels and Rhaenyra has to shoot him a look. They DO keep it in the climax of the final version, but it's a blink or you'll miss moment; as scripted it was supposed to be like 10 seconds longer of him just standing there and pretending to hesitate as a show of defiance, because of how unfair this is to the half-Baratheon Rhaenys. At first she smiles, but then for the first time shoots him a cold, "queenly" look of command, then finally he kneels. Also, DAEMON is present for the investiture, at least at first; he stands in the far back of the throne room (it takes a long time for every lord to swear the oaths) and at some point halfway through she can't see him anymore because he's left to saddle up Caraxes.

20 - The final shot would have been of Syrax rousing in her den in a match cut with Rhaenyra, in the final version we just hear a roar as it fades to black. And this would have mirrored the original intention for the finale, the final shot of the finale would have intercut Rhaenyra's look of rage with Syrax rousing. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***21 - The FULL text of the deleted scene where Viserys and Daemon are in the throne room discussing Daenys the Dreamer, Old Valyria, and prophecy. We know they filmed this. I think they just cut it for time, they did mention why they cut it - it wasn't to "remove magic" but it's a long scene it affects the flow. Two pointer here under "Prophecy"; the full text of Viserys's explanation to Rhaenyra about the prophecy of "The Song of Ice & Fire" is slightly longer. 

VISERYS:

The histories tell us that Aegon
looked across the Blackwater from
Dragonstone and saw a rich land
ripe for the capture. But ambition
alone is not what drove him to
conquest. It was a Dream.

Deleted lines:
Since the days of Old Valyria, a
precious few in the Targaryen line
[have been] gifted with prophetic Dreams. Like
the one which saved our house from
the Doom.

And just as Daenys
foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon
foresaw the end of the world of men."

Script note: Shock overtakes Rhaenyra’s features. Aegon was a Dreamer?

"It is to begin with a terrible
winter gusting out of the distant
north. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding
on those winds. And whatever dwells
within will destroy the world of
the living"

Script note: Rhaenyra gapes at her father as he unburdens himself of the
secret that he has carried alone for so long.

Deleted lines:
RHAENYRA:
"What is it? What’s in the darkness?"

KING VISERYS:
If Aegon knew, he never said. But
he saw that there would be a light
brilliant enough to stand against
it: the fire of dragons.

Script note: Viserys rests his hand on his dagger’s dragonbone hilt.

KING VISERYS (CONT'D)
Whenever this Great Winter comes,
Rhaenyra, all of Westeros will have
to stand against it. And if the
world of men is to survive, a
Targaryen must be seated on the
Iron Throne. A king -- or queen --
strong enough to unite the realm
against the cold and dark.
(then)
Aegon called his Dream “The Song of
Ice and Fire.

Rhaenyra stares back at her father, now feeling for herself
the weight of the crown and the isolation of the Iron Throne.

KING VISERYS (CONT'D)
This secret has passed from king to
heir since Aegon’s time. You must
promise to now carry it and protect
it. Promise me this, Rhaenyra...

 

--------------------------------

So there were deleted lines that the prophecy as handed down to Viserys makes no specific mention of the White Walkers. However, it's phrased in a tantalizing way; "If Aegon knew what the threat was he never told anyone" - leaving it open that he actually did. Of course the debate that Aegon's prophecy is real in the books but the idea that it was passed down for a time until becoming lost knowledge in the Dance of the Dragons was the idea of this TV show. 

To which I counter....wouldn't they be able to put two and two together? A great threat from the north? Why does THE WALL exist? The Night's Watch? Surely they'd put together "he probably had a dream about the White Walkers returning". 

Edited June 24, 2023 by The Dragon Demands

[The hairy bear]

It's always great to be able to read the script. It's very interesting to see the differences between what the writers intended vs. you ended watching.

In this case, I like how many of the pilot's biggest flaws that the pilot are not present in the script:

• Daemon's raid at Flea Bottom makes more sense as written. Seeing the City Watch actually kicking in doors of taverns and fighting pits would have helped to drive home the idea that they were arresting specific criminals, instead of giving the impressions that they were arresting random passerbyes.
• The excessive violence in the tourney, with the deaths of multiple knights, is absent: the script only has two unsportsmanlike knights beating each other, a twisted leg, and an a single accidental death.
• The tourney knights mentioned in the script are all from houses that make sense: Baratheon, Tully, Tarly, Darklyn and Corbray. Whoever had the idea to add a Stark and a Bolton really dropped the ball.
• Also, the script clearly specifies that "two hundred knights from every house and hedge great and small have come to join the games". The show only gave us 14 participants (and only their banners were displayed on the tourney grounds).
• I prefer Cole beating Daemon fair and straight, instead of the surprise attack that we ended having.
• The filmed version has Harrold Westerling claim that Cole has just "unhorsed both of the Baratheon lads" right after he is introduced, and we have seen him unhorsing just one Baratheon lad. Now it makes more sense, seeing that Cole was introduced in day one of the tourney, and Harrold says that in day two. But if they wanted to have a single day of tourney for pacing reasons, I feel that they should have changed the quote.
• Same thing with Alicent identifying Cole as someone with Dornish heritage. The script describes him as olive-skinned. But once they had cast Frankel in the role, and given that his skin is indistinguishable from anyone else around, someone should have thought of scraping that line"

There are a couple of instances, though, where I think that the final version improved on that script. One is the "heir for a day" scene (it works much better intercutting the scenes and not showing the actual sentence). The other is getting rid of the statues (why would ever Jaehaerys or even Viserys put a statue of Maegor on the throne room!)

[The Dragon Demands]

They wanted a bigger tourney but they were filming at the height of COVID lockdown, they talk about that on the behind the scenes video.

Well “later” in the tourney, same day - Aemma wasn’t in labor for 2 days.

Frankel actually is a quarter Indian from Mumbai.

oh the statues are there just really high up the columns 

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by The Dragon Demands

[The Dragon Demands]

@Ran hey, have you noticed that the front page top news section of Westeros dot org keep displaying the Alys Rivers casting news, instead of more current news posts like this one?