House of the Dragon Star Breaks Down That Episode 4 Incest Scene

Warning: House of the Dragon episode four spoilers follow.

This week’s episode of House of the Dragon has been hitting the headlines, with the fourth episode of the Game of Thrones spinoff showing an incestuous make-out scene between Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and her uncle, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith).

Despite the squeamish nature of the love affair, Alcock told The New York Post that the scene wasn’t as awkward to film as it was to watch.

“[Matt Smith and I] were just kind of mates. So, it was quite comfortable,” she said. “We had an intimacy coordinator, and we worked with her through the rehearsal process and blocked it out months before.”

Incestuous relationships are nothing new for the Targaryen family, but Alcock put her character’s behavior down to her tender age.

“Rhaenyra is at an age where she can’t tell the difference between platonic love, romantic love and lust, because she hasn’t lived long enough and gone through those experiences,” she said.

“I think that she understands that there’s a feeling here [with Daemon], but she’s not quite sure where it lands, and how to behave with it and navigate it.”

Alcock plays Princess Rhaenyra in her younger years, with Emma D’Arcy set to take over the role later in the series. The actress, who also starred in Upright, has previously revealed she wanted to meet with D’Arcy to discuss the character, but director Miguel Sapochnik thought this would lead to the two “trying to mimic each other”.

House of the Dragon, which is based on George RR Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, is set 200 years before Game of Thrones, depicting the war of succession in House Targaryen. The series, which was co-created by Martin and Ryan Condal, was recently renewed for a second season.