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

Nothing burns admire betrayal. The long-awaited tangle of dragons and the strategic crafty of nobility ring via in Home of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 4. Titled “The Purple Dragon and the Gold,” director and government producer Alan Taylor helms The Strive against at Rook’s Rest, which finds Rhaenys (Eve Easiest) on the warpath to protect her family’s kingdom and deliver to the Iron Throne. After Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) makes an in sorrowful health-fated decision to dash Sunfyre into the throngs of war, alongside his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys live up sparing with the young, faulty ruler. That is till Aemond swoops in to set aside the day with Vhagar killing Rhaenys while moreover sneak attacking Sunfyre, leading Aegon to plummet from the sky to great damage. It turned into as soon as a brutal episode that dwelling social media and fans on fire because the outcomes of the war ceaselessly changed the scheming underbelly of King’s Touchdown.

Here, Taylor speaks to Deadline about waging war between brothers, the rising loss of life toll, and the grief of growing the ultimate dragon war.

DEADLINE: How long did this large war episode take to film?

ALAN TAYLOR: I vogue of agree with a psychological block about how long we exhaust on filming issues. Each and each episode is utterly different, and the schedule moreover shows that. Thought to be one of many titillating issues relating to the vogue we film Home of the Dragon is that we block-shoot your complete season. It’s now now not gentle in that one particular person shoots their episode after which the next particular person comes in and shoots their episode. We are all shooting our episodes your complete time. That’s why it’s provocative to retain song of what number of days we accumulate. Particularly for the war on yarn of you’re actually leaping inner and outside of sets, and other directors are coming in to your complete season. The first week all 5 directors worked on something.

DEADLINE: You’re no stranger to directing Game of Thrones, nonetheless I’d argue that this episode of Home of the Dragon is believed to be one of your finest challenges but. What turned into as soon as your initial reaction to receiving the script for the episode, and how did you delineate what you agree with been going to agree with?

TAYLOR: It’s always a same project. You accumulate the script and agree with to work out how you will agree with it and be responsive to the map in which it matches into the overall image. This one turned into as soon as a minute discombobulated on yarn of we began off with 10 episodes. I turned into as soon as going to agree with a utterly different war sequence on the tip, after which issues acquired reshuffled. We agree with been effectively into prep earlier than I turned into as soon as assigned this one. Shining that the war turned into as soon as coming in Episode 4, at some level of the season, and lustrous that we had to accumulate storylines that will presumably per chance continue to develop over the course of the season fashioned how we approached that.

Basically the most titillating thing turned into as soon as that I turned into as soon as tracking the truth that this would possibly occasionally presumably per chance be the major time dragons agree with been deployed as a weapon, the major time they went to dragon war. For the course of the major season and the foundation of the 2nd season the top folk in Westeros are announcing right here’s a contemptible notion. So, we had to raise on what it formulation to deploy them. The metaphor I turned into as soon as carrying round turned into as soon as that right here’s the major time somebody decides to fall a tactical nuclear weapon, and how will that commerce each person alive to? And the complete lot grew out of that. That outlined how we fashioned the war itself. It outlined how we followed the war via our characters, admire Ser Criston Cole, who is accountable for this nonetheless is moreover the most devastated by it. He’s a warrior who can by no formulation learn war the same again after this. So, what you agree with is work out what the immense tips are after which strive to form the complete lot round it.

DEADLINE: Talking of a tactical weapon, that shot of Vhagar landing on the field is wild. She’s indubitably stomping round while all this murky smoke is on the back of her. It feels admire D-Day.

TAYLOR: Right, admire the outlet to Saving Deepest Ryan. That sequence that (Steven) Spielberg did is inspirational for every filmmaker about snatch the fog of war. I’m completely happy you picked up on that. When Vhagar slams into the bottom, that’s the watershed 2nd, the nuclear blast for our episode. It knocks out our most well-known persona, our level of survey persona, Cole. From that level on, it’s a utterly different world.

DEADLINE: What agree with been the opposite inspirations for this episode?

TAYLOR: The thing I love about George R.R Martin’s writing is that it’s grounded after all and grounded in history. So, it’s fantasy and the dragons, nonetheless it absolutely’s absolutely in step with the truth of issues. So, when my partner and I agree with been designing the war sequence and the dragon combating, we spent a good deal of time having a tag at about a issues. One is the elegant relationship between the characters and their dragons turned into as soon as something we desired to list. We moreover checked out the vogue horse house owners work along with their horses. When Aegon is greeting Sunfyre, that turned into as soon as lifted from how I’ve viewed horse house owners work along with their horses.

More importantly, we checked out a good deal of documentary footage of birds of prey and how they have interaction and fight. And so, we invented this 2nd that moreover makes Rhaenys seem very smart where … On yarn of we observed that birds of prey will agree with this thing where within the occasion that they indubitably feel they’re being encroached upon, they turn the opposite map up and they have interaction talon to talon. And apart from they’re combating within the air, nonetheless their talons are engaged, and they change into this loss of life spiral down to the bottom. So, it’s a sport of rooster to glance who’s going to release. And so, we stole that and historical that for the immense climactic 2nd in Rook’s Rest.

DEADLINE: Now, let’s issue about a proper loss of life spiral. I judge we’re aloof spiraling from the inability of Rhaenys.

TAYLOR: It’s amusing you raise that up on yarn of my occupation has weirdly became into this thing where I customarily execute folk’s current characters. In Game of Thrones, I killed Ned Stark. In The Sopranos, I killed Christopher Moltisanti. It goes on and on. Then, at remaining, I acquired to ruin Rhaenys and the dragon in this one. It’s always the same viewers response, which I love, that thing where folk accumulate wrathful at their TV or HBO or with me. Then, on the same time, they fancy it and it’s incredibly challenging for them. So, it’s a sexy metaphor for the vogue we deal with our agree with mortality, I judge. Someone we indubitably care about is dying, nonetheless they’re fictional, so it vogue of helps you to off the hook—a trial depart for facing loss of life in a fun map.

DEADLINE: I’ll by no formulation imply you would possibly presumably well off the hook for that one. But now, let’s issue about your aesthetics within the scene leading as a lot as her loss of life. She’s flying up above the combating on the bottom, and it’s quiet and virtually quiet other than for the sound of the wind and the dragon wings flapping. Then there’s the occasional swell of this elegant song. Focus on this.

TAYLOR: I’m so completely happy you’re highlighting the aloof and the piece. So, we’re up above the fray and separate from it. There’s peace and sweetness, and all of us wish we would possibly presumably per chance moreover very effectively be flying on dragons – potentially. There’s aloof there, and later in her loss of life 2nd when she’s falling, releasing and letting crawl. That’s a elegant thing that I’m completely happy we acquired to snatch. But the grief it raised turned into as soon as, how agree with you indubitably integrate what’s going on with the dragons and what’s going on on the bottom? That turned into as soon as thought to be one of many finest challenges. It’ll’t upright be an air existing with visual effects. It has to indubitably feel admire something we’re indubitably experiencing. All forms of thought went into how we ground the dragons and fasten them to the bottom. That’s fragment of the reason they protect slamming into the bottom.

Every camera angle on the dragon is a proper level-of-survey angle. There’s no magic cameras flying round. It’s either we’re watching them actually from a persona’s level of survey, or we’re watching them from where a camera would possibly presumably per chance moreover be mounted. To illustrate, the cameras are mounted on the entrance of a dragon admire a hood decoration. Again, going back to the usual George R.R. Martin thing of trying to take this fantastical stuff and produce it grounded in our proper journey as great as seemingly.

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

TAYLOR: We always agree with two cameras on dwelling, customarily three. And in a war, you would possibly presumably per chance moreover agree with presumably four. Then there’s moreover a 2nd unit led by the lustrous Rowley (Irlam), the stunt coordinator on the present. He has two cameras going around the corner doing what he’s doing upright to gash into our footage. There’s a good deal of cameras. For extras, I judge we had 400 evidently days, after which there’s replication that we agree with, so it feels admire hundreds. Even after I acquired to the battlefield, I turned into as soon as amazed by what the present turned into as soon as ready to build available within the field. No longer upright the numbers of troopers nonetheless separate liberties from utterly different properties. Ideal armor on the boys nonetheless moreover on the horses. So, it’s a mountainous proper-world footprint, nonetheless you would possibly presumably per chance moreover agree with to raise it with technology.

DEADLINE: Attend to Eve Easiest. Can you issue about working along with her in these final days of shooting as Rhaenys?

TAYLOR: It turned into as soon as savory. I turned into as soon as now now not fragment of season one. I had upright came in for season two. And also you’re meeting this array of actors who agree with been so spectacular and who already know their characters, so it would possibly per chance possibly presumably per chance moreover moreover be vogue of intimidating to approach back in and presume to dispute them on yarn of they’ve already been doing it for a while. She turned into as soon as lovely. She turned into as soon as very collaborative within the path. And I judge she would possibly presumably per chance moreover repeat we agree with been offering her a quite honest appropriate carry out. I judge she turned into as soon as completely happy with what she knew turned into as soon as going on. I’d heard she turned into as soon as now now not having fun on the dragons in season one, being on the dragon buck will agree with to you’re being bounced round admire that. But she turned into as soon as upright a good trooper for our thing. I judge we’d improved her armor quite bit, and she or he upright knew will potentially be a good sendoff for her. She turned into as soon as savory. She spent hours on this dragon buck with a computerized camera following her round. She turned into as soon as most productive on the battlefield itself as soon as lying within the mud having a tag ineffective. But as an alternative of that, most of her stuff turned into as soon as on our stage. I tried to dash the dragon buck at one level, nonetheless they wouldn’t let me on yarn of they said insurance protection wouldn’t quilt it.

DEADLINE: How are you participating with showrunner Ryan Condal to accumulate the episode’s vision across?

TAYLOR: He and his group write the episodes, after which you approach in to form it—especially something as immense and subtle because the Episode 4 war. There agree with been issues I desired to communicate about via constructing sure it had that solid constructing where it constructed as a lot as hamper our nuclear occasion. Once Rhaenys dies that’s the emotional vogue of conclusion of the article. We talked about guaranteeing there wasn’t too great yarn to play on after that on yarn of I judge our emotional thing crashes there.

Then there turned into as soon as the collaboration of bodily issues and stage it. I selected Bourne Wood in England. Ridley Scott makes exhaust of it in simply about all of his movies; I moreover shot Thor: The Dusky World there. It’s a sexy dwelling on yarn of it gave us this tree line, a field, after which the castle that anxiety up shaping how we did your complete drama. On yarn of I love the thought that that the troopers are moreover hiding within the tree line. While you step out of the tree line, your dragon fodder and it’s a killing field. That turned into as soon as stuff that turned into as soon as now now not so great within the script because it acquired created as we found the web site and worked on it. He’s a honest appropriate collaborator. There’s a dialogue between the yarn and after all staging the article. They communicate to every other.

DEADLINE: Thought to be one of many opposite unpleasant issues turned into as soon as Aemond environment Aegon and his dragon on fire. You learn that for a rupture up 2nd, Aegon turned into as soon as completely happy to glance his brother potentially abet him in war, then it flashes to terror so fleet when he realizes his brother is ready to ruin him. Aemond makes this sly smile. Focus on working with the actors on this.

TAYLOR: On yarn of the characters are rich and layered, there’s some complexity and ambiguity. I desired to now now not be completely particular about how great Aemond intended to ruin his brother. Portion of what’s going on right here is if his brother goes away, he ascends to the throne. That’s partly driving him. It’s moreover a tactical transfer; he’s blasting Meleys, Rhaenys, and his brother, who’s an idiot for being there and would possibly presumably now now not be there. So, he’s vogue of that collateral damage. When I read the scripts, I didn’t know the map lovely his persona turned into as soon as going to be till I began working with Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays Aegon. I judge he’s potentially my current actor within the present on yarn of he brings so great innocence and humor to this dastardly guy and mixes the two facets of his persona so effectively. It’s so understandable that he would agree with to head to this war on yarn of his mom said—within the worst parenting 2nd of all— “Right agree with nothing. I request nothing of you.” And so, it’s a elegant 2nd when he decides to head off and existing his heroism.

And then, clearly, by turning up, he upright screws the complete lot up upright by being there. So, on his facet, he’s afraid, in over his head, and trying to be a hero. He sees his brother coming and, for a 2nd, thinks oh, thank God. And then he begins to tag what’s indubitably taking place. So, all of that stuff is enjoying on Tom’s face as he goes from relief, inhalation to terror. Then, the ambiguity tracks your complete map via. We learn him wreck into the woods, nonetheless most productive from a distance. When we salvage his body on the tip—in additional ambiguity—we agree with now Aemond standing over him with the famed knife, presumably desiring to carry out him off. We’ll by no formulation know. We don’t existing the issue of his body great, we upright know he’s smoldering there. For the viewers and for the residents of King’s Touchdown, we don’t know if he’s ineffective or now now not for a while turned into as soon as the plan there.

DEADLINE: Even in that 2nd after we learn Aemond with the knife, corresponding to you said, it’s so ambiguous. He’s enjoying with the knife, we shock if he’s going to carry out the job by killing his incapacitated brother, nonetheless then Ser Criston Cole comes in and potentially stops Aemond from killing him. Even the level that Ewan Mitchell makes with the lazy flick of the wrist is titillating.

TAYLOR: We agree with been trying to retain ambiguity there. When Cole finds him he … I needed him to be brandishing his sword in a mode that will presumably per chance moreover very effectively be threatening or would possibly presumably per chance moreover very effectively be him placing his sword away on yarn of we didn’t reasonably know read what turned into as soon as upright taking place. Cole enters the scene now now not lustrous what turned into as soon as about to happen. Did I upright live regicide or am I being paranoid about this? How great can I belief this guy? So that he locations his sword away after which finds the dagger that tracks via all of Game of Thrones and is the dagger that kills a indubitably famed persona later. He’s upright fiddling with it. I love the truth that he historical that to existing his brother. But it absolutely’s all upright intended to be upright to Aemond’s conflicted persona. He does potentially fancy his brother, nonetheless he moreover would profit by his loss of life. And he moreover has contempt for him for now now not being the chief that he is conscious of he would possibly presumably per chance moreover very effectively be.

(This interview has been edited for size and clarity.)