During a new interview with IndieWire , House of the Dragon director Geeta Vasant Patel discussed the tumultuous history of Rhaenyra and Alicent’s strained relationship. In her own words, “I always thought about the metaphor for it as two lovers that have been divorced and still love each other. Part of it is that they both want to be with each other in a way they can’t understand and can’t explain –it’s like first love.
” As she confirms in the article, the character’s shared chemistry has been largely subtextual. “For example, first season, I was told that the entire Episode 8 was about Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship and how they miss each other. Okay, is that on the page anywhere? No, not once is it on the page.
In fact, it’s almost the opposite the whole way through, they constantly bicker. So I had to figure out, with Katie [Goldschmidt, House of the Dragon cinematographer], how to make it palpable that they miss each other. There’s certain ways, through cinematic devices, framing, structure, transitions, we moved scenes.
Patel reveals she took visual inspiration from cloak and dagger spy movies to convey Rhaenyra and Alicent’s first surreptitious meeting earlier this season. “In Episode 3, Rhaenyra sneaks into King’s Landing to talk to Alicent. On the page it was about three lines.
Ryan [Condal, House of the Dragon showrunner] came to me and said, ‘Hey, I really want this to be suspenseful. I don’t want it to just be walking in, hav.