Spoilers for the first two episodes of House of the Dragon Season 2 ahead! If you're not caught up, you can watch the episode with a Max subscription, and make sure to catch new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET as part of the 2024 TV schedule.
When it comes to the world of House of the Dragon, there are many moments that either sadden or shock you. One such scene happened in Episode 2 of Season 2, when Alicent and her daughter, Helaena, were in a carriage proceeding the one that was carrying Helaena's dead son. While the scene itself is harrowing, both Olivia Cooke and Phia Saban had their ways of dealing with the emotions – and believe it or not, it involves karaoke.
The world of A Song of Ice and Fire has many harrowing moments. From the most shocking instances on Game of Thrones to the deaths that sit with us for years (I'm still not over The Red Wedding), they end up becoming cultural shifts. One such moment occurred during the Season 2 premiere when Prince Jaehaerys was decapitated in a long-awaited Fire and Blood book moment.
In the next episode, Alicent and her daughter, Helaena (Jaehaerys' mother), follow the carriage that holds the boy's body as common folks mourn around them and the carriage holding Jaehaerys rocks, threatening to tip over. To put it simply, the emotions are high. I had the chance to talk to Olivia Cooke (Alicent) and Phia Saban (Helaena) about what it was like to film that scene – and Cooke honestly said they were "singing songs" because emotions were so high:
Yeah, we were doing karaoke time in the carriage, because of the subject matter, because it was just so…the reality of it was just so hellish…and so we were singing a lot of songs with that sort of prosthetic body in front of us.
Saban agreed, saying they were "literally delirious" as they tried to get through that scene and that signing songs that day aided in those moments.
I could see this happening. There's almost too much to keep up with when it comes to House of the Dragon, whether it's the Targaryen family tree, who has which dragon, or even who betrays who – and of course, let's not even get into the amount of deaths that happened.
The second episode even featured another gut-punch death at the very end with Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk, so I can only imagine what else the cast might do to somehow get through the scenes that genuinely touch them deep to their core.
Saban also revealed that not everything in that carriage scene was shot on the same day, saying many of her shots, where she becomes overwhelmed, were filmed much later:
I think that the actual moment where it got really overwhelming was just…it was months later on the back lot.
Cooke commented that it was "movie magic" with the creators of the show, that they were able to combine the scenes and turn it into a great "edit" to give us the scene that truly shooked the internet:
It is movie magic, isn't it? Sort of that whole sequence – part of it took place in Spain, and then part of it took place in Watford. So it feels disjointed in making it, but wonderfully it all comes together in the edit.
While we all sit on our laptops hating on Ser Criston Cole or comparing the fabulous Otto Hightower to Kris Jenner, there's no denying the emotions that came with that funeral procession – and the amount of effort that went into making it come to life, as much as it breaks my heart to see it.
However, I am ready for more pain and tears -- and I need to see some dragons fly to war now, dang it.
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