Queer kiss in 'House of the Dragon' season 2 was unscripted, actors reveal
The latest season of House of the Dragon has some twists and turns up its sleeve!
The Game of Thrones prequel's recent episode, titled Smallfolk, saw Rhaenyra (Emma D'arcy) embarking on a risky venture in her quest to find more people to mount riderless dragons.
Spoiler warning if you haven't seen House of the Dragon season 2 episode 6. This ends horribly, with the Blacks' queen continuing to struggle to earn the respect of her council. Rhaenyra turns to her ally Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) for comfort, sharing an embrace that later turns into a passionate kiss near the end of the episode—to the surprise of fans.
According to the actors, this kiss wasn't initially in the script.
"It wasn't scripted as a kiss. I think it was scripted as... there's just breath between them or something, and then whatever happens is interrupted," Sonoya told TheWrap.
She added that showrunner Ryan Condal also had "many conversations" with the two stars about the scene as they didn't want it to feel "queer-baity."
"Honestly, I think initially there was just such a desire to connect," Emma said in an interview with Variety. "I think what you see initially is intimacy, and an intimacy that Rhaenyra shares so rarely."
"Initially, there [are] huge feelings of empathy and gratitude toward this person. Rhaenyra is hugely affected by the life that Mysaria has lived so bravely. Then, they are two bodies completely overrun by touch. As soon as they embrace and their bodies are touching, I think it's pure bodily desire," they said.
Sonoya also told TheWrap that the kiss felt "so organic."
The kiss wasn't drawn from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, which HoTD is based on. It earned mixed reactions online, with some users on X saying the relationship between the two characters "came out of nowhere" while others celebrated the same-sex kiss.
Others also made memes as they are shipping Rhaenyra with another character: her childhood friend Alicent Hightower, the mother of Aegon who usurped the Iron Throne.