House of the Dragon: “I can’t complain, it’s not a boring death!”

Fallen during the great Battle of the Gosier, the main victim of episode 1 opening season 3 returns for Première to the filming of this sequence in troubled waters.

In the storm of the Battle of the Gosier, House of the Dragon hit hard from the first episode of season 3.

Who says battle says victim and as the saga is wont to do, she killed a new major character, in the last moments of this Dantesque confrontation…

Spoiler alert!

Jacaerys Velaryon, fragile but determined heir of Rhaenyra Targaryen, died in the middle of the naval battle, after being shot down while flying on Vermax’s back. Jace (or Jaque in French) has lost his aerial companion. Then was pierced with arrows while trying to keep his head above water. He is dead.

A brutal sequence, almost silent in its mechanics, where the character switches in a few moments from the position of executioner to that of victim of an impossible-to-control chaos. And for Harry Collett, this release was written a long time ago:

“I found out that Jace was going to die while reading summaries of the book,” the actor tells us. “I have to say that I took it philosophically. Jace’s death happens after a while, it doesn’t make me sad at all. Even if it had happened in season 1, I would have been delighted to be part of this series in any case. The real question is how to stage that. Reading that in a script is one thing, but bringing it to the screen is another…”

And in the end, the result far exceeded his expectations. Harry Collett tells us:

“I’m lucky, really. Jace’s death is so insane. I can’t complain. It’s not a boring death. The episode is crazy and watching it, I had goosebumps the whole time. I’m overwhelmed.”

To bring this brutal fall through the air to life, the filming used impressive resources, particularly in large pools of water where the fall and drowning scenes were filmed.

“I was able to film this in a huge pool with a diver accompanying me to bring me to the surface, my suit was so soaked and pulling me to the bottom. It was a completely crazy acting experience. And luckily I had this suit to keep me warm, because the water was freezing. No, it’s not heated!”

But the real difficulty lay in the execution of the scene itself, between physical constraints and the demand for precision acting.

“Playing dead was really difficult, it was one of the most trying scenes I have ever played. I had to float, the director asked me to keep my eyes open, to stay still, while avoiding water getting into my nose. Otherwise I would cough, and obviously if I cough, I’m not dead. That was a real challenge in itself!”

Jace’s disappearance comes amid the total chaos of the battle, while several dragons from Team Rhaenyra were tearing through the air. A confusion amplified by the arrival of Rhaena Targaryen, played by Phoebe Campbell, whose intervention on the battlefield completely turned the picture upside down.

On Sheepstealer, just tamed, the young girl throws herself headlong into the tide. With no real control over the creature she’s riding, Rhaena throws the battle into further disorder, forcing chain reactions into the sky where Jacaerys is ultimately targeted and Vermax skewered and sunk.

For Phoebe Campbell, this tragic spiral marks a brutal emotional turning point for her character. She tells us:

“Rhaena feels so bad. At rock bottom. She has hit rock bottom with this tragedy. This is truly the worst that could happen to her. She was completely unprepared for this battle. She is totally devastated by what she has caused…”

Jace’s death is one of the first shocks of this season 3. We bet it won’t be the last.

House of the Dragon, season 3, to watch every Monday in France on HBO Max.