Director Alan Taylor Season 2 ‘Home of the Dragon’ Combat Interview

Nothing burns take care of betrayal. The prolonged-awaited tangle of dragons and the strategic crafty of nobility ring through in Home of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 4. Titled “The Crimson Dragon and the Gold,” director and executive producer Alan Taylor helms The Combat at Rook’s Leisure, which finds Rhaenys (Eve Most racy) on the warpath to defend her family’s kingdom and philosophize to the Iron Throne. After Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) makes an in heart-broken health-fated decision to gallop Sunfyre into the throngs of war, alongside his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys dwell up sparing with the younger, unsuitable ruler. That is till Aemond swoops in to build the day with Vhagar killing Rhaenys whereas also sneak attacking Sunfyre, main Aegon to plummet from the sky to gigantic afflict. It used to be a brutal episode that build of living social media and followers on fire as the outcomes of the war eternally modified the scheming underbelly of King’s Landing.

Here, Taylor speaks to Time restrict about waging war between brothers, the increasing death toll, and the venture of making the perfect dragon fight.

DEADLINE: How prolonged did this big fight episode take to film?

ALAN TAYLOR: I model of dangle a mental block about how prolonged we utilize on filming things. Every episode is different, and the time desk also reflects that. One in every of the racy things about the model we film Home of the Dragon is that we block-shoot the entire season. It’s now not dilapidated in that one person shoots their episode and then the next person is accessible in and shoots their episode. We are all taking pictures our episodes the entire time. That’s why it’s laborious to preserve discover of what number of days we web. Especially for the fight since you’re literally jumping inner and exterior of sets, and different administrators are coming in for the entire season. The critical week all five administrators labored on one thing.

DEADLINE: You’re no stranger to directing Game of Thrones, but I would argue that this episode of Home of the Dragon is one in every of your supreme challenges yet. What used to be your preliminary reaction to receiving the script for the episode, and how did you delineate what you had been going to form?

TAYLOR: It’s continuously a identical process. You web the script and want to establish the model you are going to form it and be aware of how it fits into the general list. This one used to be somewhat discombobulated because we started off with 10 episodes. I used to be going to form a different fight sequence on the dwell, and then things bought reshuffled. We had been effectively into prep earlier than I used to be assigned this one. Luminous that the fight used to be coming in Episode 4, in the heart of the season, and colorful that we needed to assemble storylines that can proceed to develop over the course of the season fashioned how we approached that.

The supreme thing used to be that I used to be tracking the very fact that this would maybe maybe be the first time dragons had been deployed as a weapon, the first time they went to dragon war. For the course of the first season and the starting of the second season the neatest of us in Westeros are announcing right here’s a rotten thought. So, we needed to impart on what it skill to deploy them. The metaphor I used to be carrying around used to be that right here’s the first time any person decides to topple a tactical nuclear weapon, and how will that change everyone engaging? And every little thing grew out of that. That outlined how we fashioned the fight itself. It outlined how we adopted the fight through our characters, take care of Ser Criston Cole, who is to blame for this but is also the most devastated by it. He’s a warrior who can never idea war the identical yet again after this. So, what you form is determine what the massive tips are and then are trying and shape every little thing around it.

DEADLINE: Talking of a tactical weapon, that shot of Vhagar landing on the sphere is wild. She’s in actual fact stomping around whereas all this dim smoke is in the support of her. It feels take care of D-Day.

TAYLOR: Ethical, take care of the opening to Saving Non-public Ryan. That sequence that (Steven) Spielberg did is inspirational for every filmmaker about easy methods to capture the fog of war. I’m cheerful you picked up on that. When Vhagar slams into the bottom, that’s the watershed moment, the nuclear blast for our episode. It knocks out our critical personality, our point of ogle personality, Cole. From that time on, it’s a different world.

DEADLINE: What had been different inspirations for this episode?

TAYLOR: The thing I delight in about George R.R Martin’s writing is that it’s grounded undoubtedly and grounded in history. So, it’s fantasy and the dragons, but it with out a doubt’s absolutely in accordance to the very fact of things. So, when my associate and I had been designing the fight sequence and the dragon combating, we spent plenty of time having a dangle a study a few things. One is the classy relationship between the characters and their dragons used to be one thing we wished to painting. We also checked out the model horse homeowners dangle interplay with their horses. When Aegon is greeting Sunfyre, that used to be lifted from how I’ve considered horse homeowners dangle interplay with their horses.

Extra importantly, we checked out plenty of documentary footage of birds of prey and how they have interaction and fight. And so, we invented this moment that also makes Rhaenys seem very natty where … On story of we noticed that birds of prey will form this thing where in the event that they feel they’re being encroached upon, they turn the inaccurate design up and so that they have interaction talon to talon. And they also’re combating in the air, but their talons are engaged, and so that they become this death spiral down to the bottom. So, it’s a sport of rooster to understand who’s going to initiating. And so, we stole that and former that for the massive climactic moment in Rook’s Leisure.

DEADLINE: Now, let’s talk a few true death spiral. I mediate we’re collected spiraling from the shortcoming of Rhaenys.

TAYLOR: It’s humorous you bring that up because my profession has weirdly modified into this thing where I frequently execute of us’s favourite characters. In Game of Thrones, I killed Ned Stark. In The Sopranos, I killed Christopher Moltisanti. It goes on and on. Then, sooner or later, I bought to assassinate Rhaenys and the dragon on this one. It’s continuously the identical viewers response, which I delight in, that thing where of us web indignant at their TV or HBO or with me. Then, on the identical time, they delight in it and it’s extremely thrilling for them. So, it’s a goal right searching metaphor for the model we take care of our dangle mortality, I mediate. Any individual we undoubtedly care about is death, but they’re fictional, so it model of lets you off the hook—a trial urge for coping with death in a fun design.

DEADLINE: I’ll never support you to off the hook for that one. But now, let’s focus on your aesthetics in the scene main up to her death. She’s flying up above the combating on the bottom, and it’s quiet and with regards to mute excluding for the sound of the wind and the dragon wings flapping. Then there’s the occasional swell of this beautiful tune. Discuss this.

TAYLOR: I’m so cheerful you’re highlighting the light and the fragment. So, we’re up above the fray and rupture free it. There’s peace and grace, and we all want we also can very effectively be flying on dragons – potentially. There’s light there, and later in her death moment when she’s falling, releasing and letting trudge. That’s a aesthetic thing that I’m cheerful we bought to capture. However the venture it raised used to be, how form you undoubtedly mix what’s occurring with the dragons and what’s occurring on the bottom? That used to be one in every of the supreme challenges. It would possibly maybe maybe’t goal right be an air repeat with visible effects. It has to feel take care of one thing we’re undoubtedly experiencing. Every model of idea went into how we ground the dragons and join them to the bottom. That’s section of the motive why they preserve slamming into the bottom.

Every camera perspective on the dragon is a true point-of-ogle perspective. There’s no magic cameras flying around. It’s both we’re staring at them literally from a persona’s point of ogle, or we’re staring at them from where a camera would possibly maybe maybe be mounted. As an instance, the cameras are mounted on the entrance of a dragon take care of a hood ornament. Again, going support to the customary George R.R. Martin thing of seeking to take this fantastical stuff and make it grounded in our true skills as mighty as most likely.

DEADLINE: How many cameras are we talking about for a scale this big? And what number of extras?

TAYLOR: We continuously dangle two cameras on build of living, frequently three. And in a fight, you’d even dangle possibly four. Then there’s also a second unit led by the intellectual Rowley (Irlam), the stunt coordinator on the repeat. He has two cameras going all the design through the nook doing what he’s doing goal right to diminish into our footage. There’s plenty of cameras. For extras, I mediate we had 400 for obvious days, and then there’s replication that we form, so it feels take care of thousands. Even after I bought to the battlefield, I used to be amazed by what the repeat used to be in a arena to build out there in the sphere. No longer goal right the numbers of infantrymen but separate liberties from different houses. Supreme armor on the lads but also on the horses. So, it’s a large true-world footprint, but or now not it is miles a must to amplify it with technology.

DEADLINE: Aid to Eve Most racy. Are you able to focus on working alongside with her in those final days of taking pictures as Rhaenys?

TAYLOR: It used to be appetizing. I used to be now not section of season one. I had goal right came in for season two. And likewise you’re meeting this array of actors who had been so impressive and who already know their characters, so it must also additionally be model of intimidating to come support in and presume to dispute them because they’ve already been doing it for a whereas. She used to be perfect. She used to be very collaborative in the route. And I mediate she also can repeat we had been offering her a resplendent factual form. I mediate she used to be cheerful with what she knew used to be occurring. I’d heard she used to be now not having fun on the dragons in season one, being on the dragon buck must you’re being bounced around take care of that. But she used to be goal right a gigantic trooper for our thing. I mediate we’d improved her armor a tiny bit, and she goal right knew it would possibly maybe maybe be a gigantic sendoff for her. She used to be appetizing. She spent hours on this dragon buck with a computerized camera following her around. She used to be supreme on the battlefield itself as soon as lying in the mud having a look boring. But different than that, most of her stuff used to be on our stage. I tried to gallop the dragon buck at one point, but they wouldn’t let me because they said insurance coverage wouldn’t quilt it.

DEADLINE: How are you collaborating with showrunner Ryan Condal to web the episode’s vision all the design through?

TAYLOR: He and his group write the episodes, and then you no doubt come in to shape it—in particular one thing as big and complex as the Episode 4 fight. There had been things I wished to focus on via guaranteeing it had that receive structure where it constructed up to hinder our nuclear match. Once Rhaenys dies that’s the emotional model of conclusion of the thing. We talked about guaranteeing there wasn’t too mighty myth to play on after that because I mediate our emotional thing crashes there.

Then there used to be the collaboration of bodily things and simple methods to stage it. I chose Bourne Picket in England. Ridley Scott makes utilize of it in with regards to all of his movies; I also shot Thor: The Dark World there. It’s a goal right searching build because it gave us this tree line, a field, and then the fortress that hurt up shaping how we did the entire drama. On story of I take care of the premise that the infantrymen are also hiding in the tree line. Whenever you step out of the tree line, your dragon fodder and it’s a killing field. That used to be stuff that used to be now not so mighty in the script because it bought created as we came upon the characteristic and labored on it. He’s a factual collaborator. There’s a dialogue between the myth and undoubtedly staging the thing. They talk to every different.

DEADLINE: One in every of different keen things used to be Aemond atmosphere Aegon and his dragon on fire. You idea that for a rupture up second, Aegon used to be cheerful to understand his brother doubtlessly support him in fight, then it flashes to horror so hasty when he realizes his brother is able to assassinate him. Aemond makes this sly smile. Discuss working with the actors on this.

TAYLOR: Since the characters are prosperous and layered, there’s some complexity and ambiguity. I wished to now not be fully particular about how mighty Aemond meant to extinguish his brother. Section of what’s occurring right here is if his brother goes away, he ascends to the throne. That’s partly driving him. It’s also a tactical switch; he’s blasting Meleys, Rhaenys, and his brother, who’s an idiot for being there and must collected now not be there. So, he’s model of that collateral hurt. After I read the scripts, I didn’t understand how perfect his personality used to be going to be till I started working with Tom Glynn-Carney, who performs Aegon. I mediate he’s potentially my favourite actor in the repeat because he brings so mighty innocence and humor to this dastardly guy and mixes the 2 sides of his persona so effectively. It’s so understandable that he would want to switch to this fight because his mom said—in the worst parenting moment of all— “Like minded form nothing. I seek info from nothing of you.” And so, it’s a aesthetic moment when he decides to switch off and repeat his heroism.

And then, undoubtedly, by turning up, he goal right screws every little thing up goal right by being there. So, on his facet, he’s fearful, in over his head, and seeking to be a hero. He sees his brother coming and, for a moment, thinks oh, thank God. And then he starts to assign what’s undoubtedly going on. So, all of that stuff is taking half in on Tom’s face as he goes from relief, inhalation to horror. Then, the ambiguity tracks the entire design through. We idea him crash into the woods, but supreme from a distance. When we web his physique on the dwell—in extra ambiguity—now we dangle got Aemond standing over him with the renowned knife, possibly aspiring to form him off. We’ll never know. We don’t repeat the dispute of his physique mighty, we goal right know he’s smoldering there. For the viewers and for the residents of King’s Landing, we don’t know if he’s boring or now not for a whereas used to be the scheme there.

DEADLINE: Even in that moment when we idea Aemond with the knife, take care of you said, it’s so ambiguous. He’s taking half in with the knife, we wonder if he goes to form the job by killing his incapacitated brother, but then Ser Criston Cole is accessible in and doubtlessly stops Aemond from killing him. Even the point that Ewan Mitchell makes with the lazy flick of the wrist is racy.

TAYLOR: We had been seeking to preserve ambiguity there. When Cole finds him he … I wished him to be brandishing his sword in a mode that also can very effectively be threatening or also can very effectively be him hanging his sword away because we didn’t reasonably know easy methods to read what used to be goal right going on. Cole enters the scene now not colorful what used to be about to happen. Did I goal right quit regicide or am I being paranoid about this? How mighty can I have faith this guy? So that he places his sword away and then finds the dagger that tracks through all of Game of Thrones and is the dagger that kills a undoubtedly renowned personality later. He’s goal right fiddling with it. I take care of the very fact that he former that to point his brother. But it with out a doubt’s all goal right meant to be lawful to Aemond’s conflicted personality. He does potentially delight in his brother, but he also would succor by his death. And he also has contempt for him for now not being the chief that he knows he also can very effectively be.

(This interview has been edited for length and readability.)