House of the Dragon Season 2 is coming soon, and with that is the return of the entire Targaryen family tree, including anyone related to the Targaryens. One key house in House of the Dragon is the Velaryons, a Valyrian house that takes the seat of Driftmark – and the actors are opening up about how what happened to the family in Season 1 might either build or break them in Season 2.
The A Song of Ice and Fire universe has many houses and characters to follow, but two that I've come to love are Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen. They both suffered terrible experiences as parents in Season 1 of HOTD. While one of their children is presumed dead (as Laenor actually escaped), the other lost her life when she lost her child. The two of them now only have their grandchildren in Westeros, and Rhaenyra's rightful claim to the throne is keeping them here.
I had the chance to ask both Eve Best (Rhaenys) and Steve Toussaint (Corlys) if the loss of their children in Season 1 would lead to them "losing their fire" in Season 2 when it comes to fighting, and if the war will bring them closer or tear them apart. Best was quick to say the way I phrased it gave "chills down her spine" and how significant it is for the two of them:
I just got chills down my spine when you were talking. Just, nobody's put that so beautifully in that way about losing in their fire with the loss of their children, and I think that's something...I think that's very significant and very, really beautifully put.
The two then broke into their reflections, from Corlys to Rhaenys.
"The Old Corlys Will Come Back – Even If It Is Just For The Battle"
Steve Toussaint had an exciting answer to the question – that even if they had lost any fire, it was "temporary" and that he was persuaded to return to the battle because of Rhaenys pleading with him:
I think if they have lost any fire, it's temporary because they are still the same people. I think –certainly, I can only speak for Corlys – he was ready to down tools and just be like, 'Let's just withdraw from this whole thing.' But he was persuaded – that of the rightness of Rhaenyra's claim by his good lady wife. He has decided to get back into the fray while dealing with his grief and what have you.
Even though he was ready to retire at the end of the dramatic Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, he truly believes that the "old Corlys" will come back as they begin to grow to that "dull ache" of losing someone.
There's that old saying that a leopard doesn't change its spots or something. And I think that as time goes on, and I don't know if you can heal from the death of somebody, but as you get used to that dull ache, who you are starts to reemerge. And I think, certainly for him, I think the fire will reemerge. I think the minute he's back at sea and in the fray, I think the old Corlys will come back, even if it is just for the battle.
Eve Best, however, had a different way of looking at the battles to come for the couple.
"Things Mattered Less And Less And Less"
While Rhaenys is undoubtedly one of the best characters House of the Dragon has introduced to the general public (as well as her dragon as part of HOTD's massive amount of dragons), she's dealing with a lot right now after losing both Laena and Laenor.
Best agreed with Toussaint's perspective on their relationship and the battles to come, but she also remarked that Rhaenys' perspective is different—she's holding onto so much grief for "everybody else" that it's weighing her down.
I love what you said. And I think that actually, for her, the opposite is the case. She's holding so much of her own grief, and holding so much for everybody else. And I felt like during this season, in Season 1, I know that she said several times, "I've let go of my ambition ages ago, and it's not important to me anymore." But I feel like an element of that was true. But also deep down there was always that fire running through that light or that desire or that connection to the potential of forward motion. And it feels like this season, to me, felt very much like the opposite. It was like she was just letting go of attachments to everything, and things mattered less and less and less.
Toussaint then asks Best if she believes Rhaenys regrets asking Corlys to stay in the fight at the end of Season 1. Best said Rhaenys didn't at the time, but now? There are "moments," she thinks back on it.
No. I think, absolutely, it was meant at the time. But I think, yes, there are moments.
But Best also said that there's a part of Rhaenys that wishes she would have listened to Corlys in stepping out of the fight because now even their relationship "comes into question." She said:
I think on a sort of personal level, I think she wishes that she'd listen to him, because yeah, it was just a feeling of things mattering less and less and less and just dropping luggage through the season – even then this comes into question, which has always been rock solid up until then.
House of the Dragon Season 2 is nearly here, and the tension is rising. I think it's time to see the House of the Dragon Season 2 trailer, or to rewatch all of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon prepare – and fall in love with these characters all over again because my heart is ripped out.
