Tom Glynn-Carney in “House of the Dragon.”
Ollie Upton/HBO
Note: House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 5.
King Aegon II Targaryen survived, but not in good health. Bedbound and in agony, the anxious, impulsive tyrant paid a heavy price for recklessly flying Sunfire into the Battle of Rook’s Rest in last week’s episode. House of the DragonActor Tom Glynn-Carney didn’t have many lines in tonight’s fifth episode of season two (all he did was cry to his mother, in fact), but thankfully Glynn-Carney had plenty to think about as he lay there under the wounds of his prosthetic limbs. Below, the 29-year-old British actor answers some of our burning (smoldering?) questions.
What was your reaction when you first learned of this horrific event?
I knew it was coming. I just didn’t see it coming. But my initial reaction was that it had been put together by our incredible writers with this amazing, theatrical, exciting, terrifying, unpredictable craftsmanship, and I was so happy to be on the receiving end of it.
Firstly, looking back at episode four, it seemed pretty obvious to viewers, but what do you think was going through Aegon’s mind as he rode Sunfire into the battle?
He was a little overwhelmed by all the things that had been building up over the years as king. His worst fears and insecurities were being revealed and realized. He felt vulnerable, weak, useless. The words that Alicent (Olivia Cooke) told him in his room (“Don’t do anything”) were the last straw. And he just gave up. “I have no other choice. I have to prove myself somehow.” But that’s the kind of person he is, and he’s not a real warrior with the fearless courage that other people have, so he had to numb himself, and he got drunk and jumped on the dragon.
How do you think he felt about Amond (Ewan Mitchell)?) Betrayal? It seemed obvious. I wondered if Aegon was really surprised…
I think the moment of realization was the fact that the fireball was coming towards me. I don’t think there was any time to think that it was intentional. If that thought ever occurred to me, it probably would have come later. As a viewer, I’m still not sure. I’ll let you decide for yourself.
Although the battle was disastrous, it was ultimately won, and some argue that Aegon saved the world. Is Aegon a hero? No, he’s not.
I have to take him everywhere. Yes, he’s a hero.
What does the prosthetics manufacturing process look like going forward?
It’s long. It’s very detailed. I got to know my incredible hair and makeup team very well, and I also got to know myself a lot better.
what do you mean?
The amount of time I spent sitting in those chairs with those people and thinking about my own thoughts… [the prosthetics] It really influences and informs my acting. It tells me how I should move now. It changes the way I breathe, the way I talk. There’s a part in my mouth that I asked him to do that makes the way I talk a little bit distorted. So this is all great, because it feels like we’ve made a change. Eyghon must have changed after this. We’ve found a change in him and we’re going to continue that. [impact] He changes his decision and has a new approach to life.
You mentioned that you changed the way you moved. In a previous interview, you said that Aegon moved differently than you did. What was that difference?
He’s a little hunched, a little thinner, a little weaker, a little more skittish.
Is it weirdly fun to act like this now, because it’s more dramatic in some ways?.
Yeah! It feels like I’ve gone from Richard II to Richard III, if you know what I mean? It feels like a level up, but on paper it’s clearly a level down. I think what he lost physically, he gained emotionally and spiritually. That’s the way I try to look at it.
Apparently, Viserys (Paddy Considine)) lastly, Frail and brutal. Did that impact your process in any way?
“Because there are so many dangers, aren’t there? If you wear a crown on your head, something bad will happen one day. If you don’t have the crown on your head yet, isn’t that dangerous? Definitely Viserys.” The comparisons were difficult, especially as he neared his final days and final moments in bed. There was no quality of life. It was only a matter of weeks and months before his father was in the same situation, lying in the same bed.
Let’s say his fate wasn’t literally written, ideally, what would you want as Aegon’s fate?
In an ideal world, you would want to be given the opportunity to prove yourself and make a decision. he What he’s created – carving his own path as king, not somebody else who thinks they know better. And we’ll just have to wait and see if he fails as badly as people think he does. I would give him the time and space to figure it out. It’s a dangerous ask, because it could go horribly wrong. I think people are underestimating him.
I found it interesting that no one sat at his bedside, held his hand, or tried to comfort him in any way. At least in this episode.. That seems pretty strict.
It’s really, really sad. Aegon is a boy in a man’s body and all he wanted was to be loved and seen and not criticized. I think because of what he did in the past he got a reputation and he felt like any attention was good attention. Unfortunately, because he got the fame, people now distance themselves from him and see it as a poisoned chalice. At the end of the day, he is a product of his past. He didn’t have the emotional intelligence to deal with it and move on from it in a healthy way. There wasn’t a lot of therapy back then, you know? He tried to make it work on his own.
And finally, there’s a scene early in the season where Aegon hears the pleas of the commoners in the throne room for the first time. Aegon’s instinct is, “Oh, okay, let’s give them what they want,” even though it’s not realistic. I thought that was interesting. Aegon is often compared to Joffrey, and that was probably his most polar opposite moment, where Joffrey’s instinct would be, “Why do you want this from me? Go away.” What part of Aegon was that?
Was he trying to do good for the sake of doing good, or was he trying to do good because he wanted to do good? saw Doing good is very different. He’s clearly trying to become a different person. I think if he’d had a different upbringing than Rhaenyra[Emma Darcy]he might have been a different person. She always had school pictures framed on the fridge. And Aegon and Aemond were still in a drawer. We’re still trying to understand him. I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand him. But I think that’s kind of the point. I don’t think he understands himself either.
