House of the Dragon showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal told a roaring audience at East London’s Shoreditch Town Hall that Season 3 delivers on the promise of the previous season, and that the Garret fight sequence that opens the new season is “completely unlike anything we’ve seen on TV before.”
“All the pots that were supposed to be boiling at the end of Season 2 have really boiled over in Season 3, and there are splintered factions on both sides, but now there are divisions within those divisions, and they continue to crack, and we’re going to continue to see selfish people do terrible things in the name of pride and power and ego and self and family,” Condal told Empire’s Helen O’Hara, who moderated the session at SXSW London on Friday.
Actor Steve Toussaint explained where his character, Lord Corys Velaryon, also known as “The Sea Serpent,” was at the beginning of season 3, saying, “When I first met Ryan, he started out as a character who had everything and said, let’s take everything from him. Well, he’s on that journey. When we meet him at the beginning of season 3, he’s still grieving with his wife (Rhaenys Targaryen) and trying desperately to build a relationship with his illegitimate son (Arryn of Hal), but his son doesn’t want anything to do with him, so he basically has to deal with that, and it’s difficult.
Steve Toussaint as Lord Corys Velaryon
Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO
Harry Collett, who plays Prince Ja’caris “Jace” Velaryon, said of his relationship with his mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, who tries to assert her authority over him: “Yeah, he’s just a grumpy teenager, really. He just thinks his mom is wrong and he’s falling into these traps right in front of his eyes, and he thinks he’s the nicest guy in the room, but he’s just a kid.” But certainly, he was born to be a leader and will always have that trait. ”
Abubakar Salim, who plays Arin, resisted suggestions that his tough personality would “soften” in season 3, but said, “I think we’ll see him mature. It’s very interesting because we ended season 2 as very volatile and angry and challenging the Coreys. So I feel like he’s going into the season with that kind of vulnerability and rawness from the beginning. So, yeah, I think we’ll see him grow throughout this film.” It evolves depending on the season and what’s going on. ”
Abigail Thorne plays Admiral Shalako Lohar
Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO
Admiral Shalako Lohar, played by Abigail Thorne, was just introduced in the season 2 finale, where she was seen engaging in a mud wrestling match with Tyrande Lannister. Although the character was lightly sketched in the original George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, Thorne developed a unique backstory for Shalaco. “I have my own answers in my head about what exactly happened between her and Corey’s that led her to be so dedicated to the mission of defeating Corey,” she said. She’s Captain Ahab this season, so I read the novel and watched every movie adaptation I could. She continues this quest to defeat Moby Dick and we will see how far she will go to achieve it. ”
Toussaint added, “Well, I think we both have this inexorable attraction to each other that this has to be the final stage. It’s been going on for years and years and years, and if they come to me, it’s going to be quite a deal.”
Season 3 begins with the Battle of Garet, one of the major military actions of the Civil War known as the Dance of Dragons. This is something Condal and production designer Jim Clay have been working on for some time. “Yes, this has been bothering Jim and I for the better part of four years now, and it’s been bothering Kevin de la Noy, the physical producer who had to schedule and pay for all of this. But yes, I can say with confidence that this sequence is unlike anything that’s ever been done on television before,” Condal said. “Certainly, the amount of construction that you guys (I’m referring to Clay and his team) did for just one episode is kind of crazy and frankly irresponsible. But it was necessary in order to tell the story. So this is a very original moment in the show.”
“I’m a big fan of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and I always said it was like you were making ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ And we were like, ‘Well, Helm’s Deep, that was a crazy battle, that one. I’ve always said, ‘You should have been there, you should have seen it, it was a crazy fight.”’ So, no matter how we did it, we had to dramatize this moment. Even in the bloody and horrific history of the Dance of Dragons, Garrett stands out as one of the worst things that happened in that history, even to those historians, it had to be dramatized, it had to be shown, so a lot of blueprints were needed, and…”
Clay then continued with the following sentence: “…A huge number of pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle came together through various departments and finally came together and some amazing people put it together narratively. But credit to producer Kevin de la Noy, who always said throughout the design process, ‘You’re a total prodigal,’ and he actually designed the tank, the dry tank, the wet tank, so he did his part too.”
Clay, who said “Master and Commander” was the inspiration for the Battle of Garrett, had his team build a full-size version of Corey’s ship “The Queen That Never Was” and put it in a dry tank on a gimbal, then transferred parts of it to a wet tank on another gimbal. “We always splashed water on all these guys and the boat moved up and down and in both directions. And we did it again with (Shalako’s boat) ‘Bitch Fist,'” Clay said. “It was a dangerous environment. The floor was slippery and there was blood.”
Director Toussaint said of the preparation for the fight sequence, which was directed by Roni Peristaire: “Initially, Roni called all of us long before we started filming to talk about all the models and the photos and the emotional journey each of us would go through in this fight. Then there was the stunt choreography, which took…I don’t know how many weeks, but so many hours, over and over again. And when you were done, I… We got on a nice set that was much smaller than the gym that Chi was training in, and the deck was full of water, and the deck was moving up and down, and there were some bodies in there for us to jump over, and of course, when we were doing training fights, I was all in tracksuits, but when I put on the armor, I couldn’t do any of that.”
Thorne added, “As soon as we got signed for Season 3, we went to the gym. We gained 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 pounds) of muscle over the course of the season, so we must have been doing chest presses in holds for ‘Bitch Fist.’ Then we trained in sword fighting and boxing with the stunt team. The stunt team all had previous experience with superhero doubles, so it was the captain who trained us to fight.” America, Thor, Deadpool, and Wonder Woman. ”
Salim said of the armor, “It was hard, like it was something, because you have three people helping you put it on, so you can see how much of a hassle it is, and the helmet was ridiculous, because sometimes something… There were times when he would swing at me and his helmet would cover his eyes, and then all of a sudden he would start swinging and look like he didn’t know what he was doing, and I think that helped sell the madness and kind of the confusion.” It was on the actual deck, and I think it really helped convey the fear, instinct, and primal energy that occurs during battle. Because that was a really big lesson for me. ”
“I remember the first day we were shooting with the stunt team, and that was the first crash, when Roni, the director, yelled action and we all crashed into something. Remember, we’ve been rehearsing for months and mentally preparing for this. The energy is… It was almost like a mosh pit, and it was scary, because it wasn’t about everyone picking sides, it was about survival, and I remember taking a swipe at someone on my side, and it was crazy, but it was really cool and magical.
Regarding Season 3 as a whole, Condal said, “There’s a sense of inexorability to this season. The events that started at the end of Season 2 are turning over a rock that starts rolling down hill, and there’s a sense of inexorability. I think at some points in the story up to this point, it felt like, ‘Oh, maybe we can claw this back out of the abyss, maybe we’ll have a chance.'” The rational, responsible adults in the story see Armageddon as a possible endpoint, but this season it feels like it’s moving at breakneck speed and never stopping. ”
“This season is the biggest season we’ve put together by a wide margin. I mean, just the number of filming days, the number of locations, the amount of construction that Jim and his team have done.”
Regarding the issue of leadership in the series and the flawed nature of those who try to be leaders, Condal said, “One of the big themes of this season is, ‘What does the throne do to you? What does the throne do to you when you’re near the throne? And that’s what I’ve always been interested in about this world.'”
