House of the Dragon: HBO Releases Tense Preview of Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenrya

Following Milly Alcock's turn as Princess Rhaenyra in the first several episodes of House of the Dragon, Emma D'Arcy is stepping into the role for the rest of the GoT prequel.

By Cydney Contreras Sep 21, 2022 4:28 PMTags
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Emma D'Arcy is tapping in.

While fans are loving Milly Alcock's performance as Princess Rhaenyra in HBO's House of the Dragon, it's time for a new actor to step into the role as the series makes a time jump for the last five episodes of season one. Next time viewers tune in to the Game of Thrones prequel, Emma will be portraying the platinum blonde princess, alongside John Macmillan's older version of her husband, Laenor Velaryon, stepping in for Theo Nate.

HBO gave viewers a taste of what they can expect from the Truth Seekers alum in a Sept. 20 preview of the upcoming sixth episode in which Rhaenyra has given birth to her first child, a baby boy, with Laenor. While the princess needs her rest, she's forced to walk through King's Landing, telling Laenor, "She wants to see him."

The "she" Rhaenyra is referring to is presumably Queen Alicent Hightower, who will now be played by Olivia Cooke. (Emily Carey portrayed the younger version of Alicent in the first half of the season.)

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Laenor seems to be an attentive, if ill-suited husband, offering to carry the baby for Rhaenyra, who swiftly rejects the offer. "No," the princess explains, "she'll get no such satisfaction from that."

Laenor then asks if giving birth was painful, adding that he "took a lance from the shoulder once." As if that could compare!

The preview sets the tone for the pending Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that sees Westeros divided over who shall sit on the Iron Throne. Though King Viserys (Paddy Considine) had named Princess Rhaenyra as his official heir early in the season premiere, Alicent seeks to instead give the crown to her firstborn son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). 

May the best Targaryen win.

House of the Dragon airs every Sunday on HBO and streams on HBO Max.

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