'House of the Dragon' Season 3, episode 1: Aegon originally knelt. Tom Glynn-Carney changed it.
In House of the Dragon Season 3, we find the once proud Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) in an even worse state than we left him in Season 2.
We've seen "the usurper" essentially dragged to the Iron Throne by his mother, where he terrorised the staff of Red Keep. We've seen him married to his sister Helaena (Phia Saban), endure the violent loss of a child, and execute an entire King's Landing profession in retaliation. He's a Targaryen who lost his dragon, Sunfyre, in the Battle at at Rook's Rest and he's been mercilessly burned by Vhagar probably thanks to his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who now rules in his stead as prince regent.
It's a lot.
Now, a panicked and persuaded Aegon has fled the capital and gone undercover, trundling through enemy territory in a bird cart with the diabolical Larys Strong (Matthew Needham). And he's in despair, to put it lightly. "I am the king of nothing, with raven shit for a throne," Aegon declares in characteristically verbose hilarity in episode 1, and he's not entirely wrong.
"He likes to lament," Glynn-Carney told Mashable. "He is really in his pit of self pity and wallowing in it. Eventually you can see that that really grates on Larys — and it would do if that's your journey partner and all they do is moan."
In episode 1, however, we see a glimmer of pride still clinging to Aegon, when he and Larys are apprehended by guards loyal to Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). Unlike his road buddy, who plunges that knee to the ground and offers up Aegon's crown, the king refuses to kneel and denounce the usurper (that's him).
"Originally it was in the script that he kneeled straight away, and I was like, no, he wouldn't do that. He'd be defiant and get himself in a lot of trouble," said Glynn-Carney. "But I think that's what's important to hold on to with Aegon. He's in a situation now where his status is out the window, and he's lowest of the low, but there needs to be — and what we achieved, I think, in the end — is that tiny thread still hanging on to pride.
"You know, the line in Season 2 where he says, 'Fuck dignity, I want revenge.' Actually, he doesn't want to fuck dignity, he wants his dignity back at this point, because he totally lost it."
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Topics House of the Dragon
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's Senior Editor, General Assignments, based in London. She has been Mashable's UK Editor (and still manages the illustrious UK team) and Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives searching for Exit 8. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror, and loves to nerd out with movie stars, filmmakers, and TV creators.
