House of the Dragon Star Breaks Down "F***** Up" Scene

Aug 03, 2026 - 07:16

0 0

House of the Dragon Star Breaks Down "F***** Up" Scene

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon

Published Aug 2, 2026, 11:09 PM EDT

Jennifer is a TV and Movie News Editor at ScreenRant. She started her journey in entertainment media in 2022 when she first joined Valnet at CBR before coming to ScreenRant.

Jennifer loves TV, especially science fiction. She also loves late-night talk shows, due to her insomnia. Alien: Earth is definitely one of her favorite shows, and she jumps on any chance she gets to write about it. Even on her days off, she will claim an Alien Earth article if one is available.

Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are two of her favorite late-night hosts, and Conan O'Brien before he left his show.

Her Alien: Earth coverage for ScreenRant is by far the work that she is most proud of so far.

She was initially a finance and political editor, but her passion for pop culture convinced her to transition into entertainment journalism.

During her off time, she loves to binge-watch cooking shows such as Kitchen Nightmares. Jennifer also loves spending time with her daughter and cherishes every moment of it.

House of the Dragon delivers another disturbing family moment.

Gayle Rankin, who portrays Alys Rivers, was already aware of Aemond Targaryen’s (Ewan Mitchel) complicated feelings toward his mother during their time at Harrenhal. However, in House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, her character unfortunately has to directly encounter one of the show’s most unsettling scenes.

The episode opens with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) arriving at Harrenhal. She was there to manipulate Aemond (her son) so Rhaenyra’s henchmen could murder him and allow her to take the Iron Throne. When she approaches him, she initially behaves like a loving mother. However, the encounter soon becomes disturbingly intimate, which results in the pair sleeping together. The scene is eventually revealed to be fake. Aemond is actually with Alys, and he is just imagining his mother while the pair attempt to have children.

In an interview with Variety, Rankin discusses her thoughts regarding filming the messy scene. First and foremost, the actor made it clear that everyone was incredibly professional during the sequence. She also explained how she and her co-star tried to keep things lighthearted by joking around in between takes in order to make things less tense while shooting something that would make most people feel a little uneasy. Rankin added that it was essentially just another "odd" day at the office for her.

It was very intimate and very odd but very professional. We tried to like make jokes, just to keep it lighthearted because those scenes are not easy and they’re complicated and very technical. So it was also just like it was another day at the office for being like a very odd, f*****-up scene.

House of the Dragon is a fantasy drama set within the same universe as Game of Thrones. Created for HBO by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal, the series adapts parts of the former's 2018 novel Fire & Blood. The prequel takes place nearly two centuries before the flagship show and depicts the events leading to the downfall of House Targaryen. It also follows the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that is tearing the family apart.

House of the Dragon also features a massive ensemble cast. The series stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish, Matthew Needham, Jefferson Hall, Harry Collett, Tom Glynn-Carney, Bethany Antoni, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Kurt Egyiawan, Kieran Bew, Abubakar Salim, Tom Taylor. Clinton Liberty, Tom Bennett, Ellora Torchia, Freddie Fox, Simon Russell Beale, and James Norton.

House of the Dragon season 3 releases new episodes every Sunday at 9:00 PM ET and 6:00 PM PT.