Rhaenyra and Mysaria actors on Kiss in episode 6

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 2, Episode 6, titled “Smallfolk,” now streaming on Max.

Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and her new closest confidante and right-hand man Mysaria, aka The White Worm (Sonoya Mizuno), marked a twist in their relationship on this week’s episode of ‘House of the Dragon’, when the two shared a passionate kiss in the final moments of the episode.

However, the kiss is interrupted, causing Rhaenyra to almost immediately take off on Dragonback to find out who has been spotted riding a wild dragon around Westeros – and whether they are aligned with her and the Blacks or Alicent (Olivia Cooke ) and the Greens. So viewers are left with many questions about the intimate moment and what it means for the rest of season 2.

According to D’Arcy, one thing is certain: the kiss was not a calculated decision on Rhaenyra’s part.

“Honestly, I think initially there was such a desire to connect,” D’Arcy shared Variety. “I think what you see at first is intimacy, and an intimacy that Rhaenyra so rarely shares. Even in some of her other romantic relationships, there’s a lot of presentation, there’s a lot of bravado, often on both sides. Especially with Daemon, I think that both parties have difficulty showing themselves weak, and that their eroticism is more or less based on power.

“Whereas with Mysaria, in this growing relationship, it’s remarkably honest,” D’Arcy continued. “Initially there are enormous feelings of empathy and gratitude towards this person. Rhaenyra is deeply moved by the life Mysaria has lived so courageously. Then they are two bodies that are completely overwhelmed by touch. As soon as they hug and their bodies touch, I think it’s purely physical desire.”

Although Mizuno says she’s sure “people will have their own opinions about it,” she thinks the kiss “surprises” both Mysaria and Rhaenyra.

“As far as I am concerned, there is nothing Machiavellian in it,” Mizuno said in an interview on Friday. “It’s a very beautiful, tender kiss, and it would be impossible not to feel something like Mysaria in that moment. I don’t think she’s had a kiss like that – maybe ever. And I think sex and sexuality are very complicated for her, given her history as a young woman with her father and then her professional work life. So to have had such a tender, loving and passionate moment would have awakened something.”

Mizuno talked about how the two actors perceived their characters’ feelings before filming the scene. “When we discussed it, we were talking about when you realize afterwards that you’re in love with someone, and you say, ‘Oh yeah, of course. “I’ve had a crush on that person for six months, but I didn’t realize it,” she said. ‘But once you realize it, it’s a straight-up teenage crush. So maybe there’s something going on there. But a civil war is also breaking out, so what are the priorities?”

While Daemon (Matt Smith) has been away from Dragonstone for half a season, only communicating with Rhaenyra through his disturbing hallucinations and dreams as he builds an army at Harrenhal, he will surely reunite with his wife at some point. So what happens when he finds out about Rhaenyra’s intimate moment with Mysaria, who regularly had sex with Daemon when Rhaenyra was a child?

“It’s going to be a bit of a shitshow, isn’t it?” Mizuno said. “But I’m looking forward to it, whatever it will be.”

Readers can dig into what happened to the Greens this week on ‘House of the Dragon’ Variety‘s interview with actor Ewan Mitchell about the beginning of Aemond Targaryen’s reign.

See below for more of it Variety‘s full interview with D’Arcy on Episode 6 of ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, including their thoughts on how this kiss – which isn’t taken from George RR Martin’s ‘Fire & Blood’ – could strain their already strained relationship Rhaenyra with Demon.

Can you describe the situation Rhaenyra faced in this episode? She went from hoping over her idea to use the Dragon Seeds to help her cause, to seeing one of them burned in an attempt to do her bidding..

I suppose, as is often the case with Rhaenyra, her big ideas come with a touch of eccentricity. The strong belief that another answer might be possible is in turn met by fear of sharing these ideas with her male colleagues. I think she probably approaches most council meetings with the expectation that she will be a little patronized or underestimated. So the stakes are high. A woman in a position of power will have her faults judged more harshly, I would say, than a man in the same position. So it is a high stakes game.

After weeks of reluctantly listening to her and family’s advice not to mount her own dragon, Syrax, and leaving the flying and fighting to everyone else, Rhaenyra immediately took to the skies after hearing that an unknown dragonrider was on the world was. Why did she finally decide it was worth breaking the rules?

Amazingly, I don’t know if she sees any other course of action. I think this is one of those moments in the escalating civil war that, depending on who’s on that dragon, could mark the end of their campaign. I suppose we are already in a situation of great extremity. If someone allied with the Greens brought that dragon, then I think the odds are so terribly stacked against Rhaenyra and her allies that I wonder if her need for self-protection goes out the window at all.

How do you see the evolution of Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship from the beginning of the season to now?

It’s a fairly new kind of relationship for Rhaenyra. She is such a volatile person that she often lets her emotions guide her – especially in relationships. I think this means a change. Their confidence grows slowly. At first they don’t like each other at all. And I think there’s something interesting about seeing two women within such a patriarchal system who have both developed mechanisms to navigate and manipulate the systems of power. Those skills weren’t built to be used so much on other women. So certainly for Rhaenyra, she actually feels a lot of threat from Mysaria – including of course her history with Daemon.

But as the series progresses, Mysaria really influences Rhaenyra’s politics. She has a powerful influence on Rhaenyra’s ability to see how a kingdom and its citizens would be affected in the event of a civil war. That was somewhat abstract for Rhaenyra – until Mysaria somehow makes it more concrete. And I think it speaks to different forms of power that Rhaenyra, in her desire for a masculine, conflict-based power, sometimes overlooks. Gaining the will and faith of the people – I don’t know how much that was part of her political consciousness before Mysaria.

This kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria is not one of the ‘historical’ events recorded in George RR Martin’s ‘Fire & Blood’. What were your thoughts on adding this scene to the show, knowing that “Fire & Blood” consists of many conflicting retellings and gaps?

I think there is humor in the fact that – even in our real written histories – women are so often left out of the history books. Partly due to a lack of care: for example, people are not concerned about what they are planning to do. And I enjoy investigating what happened between the forgotten pages.

Have you always seen Rhaenyra as a strange character, or was this a first experience for her?

It’s hard because I don’t think the word “queer” is in Rhaenyra’s lexicon in any way. There are so few images or stories in that world that she can access and identify with in that way. What I do think is that she is really sexual. Maybe that’s one of the real joys of playing her: I think she’s a super embodied character, who knows when her body is saying something. And that applies to many different contexts. I don’t think she’s afraid of her body’s instructions. And I certainly think there was great intimacy in her early relationship with Alicent.

How will this kiss impact Rhaenyra’s tumultuous relationship with Daemon?

I don’t expect her to have any intention of telling him. But I imagine she feels quite proud, and quite empowered. I imagine she likes the idea of ​​him finding out. There is such a power struggle going on in their relationship that hooking up with his ex would, I can only think, be a helpful point on the board.

What was it like for you not to work with Matt Smith as much this season after being such close scene partners in Season 1? And will Rhaenyra and Daemon’s estrangement last much longer?

To be honest, I found it frustrating. I know I’ve talked about it a lot, but I really enjoy shooting with Matt, and it was a shame for me that I couldn’t do more of that. I don’t want to spoil anything. But inevitably, a greater enemy is on the way. And so they both have to figure out how to tackle that ultimate battle.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.