The Big Picture

In
House of the Dragon
Season 2, Aegon II Targaryen is now king. He is supported by his family but manipulated by them at the same time,
Tom Glynn-Carney plays the complex character of Aegon, highlighting his unpredictability and challenges.
Aegon is shown as a father, hinting at complexity beyond his reputation, with a notable challenging scene in Season 2.

After a two-year gap, House of the Dragon Season 2 is nearly here, and with it comes a war that pits Targaryen against Targaryen. Season 1 showed us the beginnings of this era of House Targaryen, and we were quickly introduced to King Viserys (Paddy Considine), who names his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) as his heir before remarrying and having a son named Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) with his second wife. When Viserys dies, the family is torn in half by a misunderstanding that leads Aegon to be crowned instead of Viserys’ long-standing heir, Rhaenyra. War soon follows with those who support Aegon II Targaryen calling themselves the Greens, while those who support his older half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen calling themselves the Blacks.

Though Aegon II now finds himself on the Iron Throne in King’s Landing, he’s hardly prepared for the role of king. After spending years as a spoiled and somewhat morally questionable prince, Aegon was told by his mother, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), that his father proclaimed him as heir to her on his deathbed. Bolstered by the support of the small folk, he now believes himself the rightful king of Westeros. He has the support of the rest of the Greens, which include his mother, his grandfather, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), his sister/wife Helaena (Phia Saban), his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), and the commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel.)

We spoke with Tom Glynn-Carney about Aegon’s new position as king and the challenges that come with playing such a complicated character. Aegon isn’t known to be the best of men, but Glynn-Carney also asserts that he is not completely irredeemable. We talked about his relationship wit his grandfather and mother and their manipulation of him, as well as his role as a father to his young children. Finally, Glynn-Carney teased a scene in Season 2, Episode 2 that promises to be one of his most challenging scenes. Watch the video interview with Glynn-Carney above or read the full transcript of the interview below.

House of the Dragon The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.Release Date August 21, 2022 Creator Ryan J. Condal, George R.R. Martin Main Genre Drama Seasons 4 Distributor HBO Expand

Tom Glynn-Carney on How Unpredictable Aegon Is
Image via HBO

COLLIDER: Aegon, from Season 1 to Season 2, has had quite a massive shift. There are moments where if you told me in Season 1 he’s actually a pretty decent ruler, I would have been like, “No, that doesn’t seem right.” But he actually does seem to be somebody who cares about the smallfolk, or at least outwardly. What is it like playing a character who is so complicated and has so many of these very sharp, angular layers to him?

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY: That’s a good way of putting it because they are. There’s no sort of easy flow from one to the next, is there? It’s great fun, is the honest answer, for an actor to be able to take on a role like Aegon because he is unpredictable. Every day is different. I learn a lot about him at the time of playing him, rather than all the pre-production stuff. You do as much as you can then, but then you get up in the space with the wig and the costume and the set and everything is different. Everything changes. So, yeah, it’s a great challenge. He’s exhausting in every way you can imagine, but it’s the challenge of a lifetime, and I welcome it with open arms.

How Does Aegon Feel About Being Manipulated by His Mother and Grandfather?

That’s a good way of putting it. With Aegon, it’s interesting to see how his mother and his grandfather seem to openly be ready to puppet him as a king. Do you see him as somebody who’s pushing back against this manipulation, or do you think he’s still in the state where he feels like he can trust those two to guide him?

GLYNN-CARNEY: I think it takes him a while to see that he’s being manipulated. I think it’s very evident in the scene with the petition in Episode 1 that Otto was taking the reins a little too much. You’ve got to be more tactful than that. You can’t rub Aegon up the wrong way like that because that’s not going to bode well for going forward. Look, he doesn’t want to be seen as somebody who can be walked all over because that’s what he has been his entire life, and this is different now. He’s in a position of power. People need to respect him. What he wants is to be loved and feared at the same time. They don’t go hand-in-hand, so it’s a navigation there of working out how to get a hybrid of the two. If that’s even possible.

Related ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Review: A Bigger, Bloodier Return That Could Overshadow ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 premieres June 16 on HBO and Max.

Is Aegon Actually a Good Dad?
Image via HBO

So, we get to see Aegon as a dad, which I think is very cute. The little kid who plays Jaehaerys is adorable. Can you tell me the thought process behind approaching playing a father and playing fatherhood, and, obviously I won’t get into the details, but the burdens of fatherhood and tragedies that might strike as a father?

GLYNN-CARNEY: We don’t get too much into Aegon as a dad. What we do see of him, I liked the idea that he wasn’t an absent father, but wasn’t as present as he could have been. He did the fun bits, and he did the bits he wanted to do. He wasn’t getting up in the night with them. He wasn’t doing any of that stuff. That was all Helaena’s job, all the maids, or whatever. But if he was feeling a little bit excitable, he’d want to play with them, or he’d want to show them off to people, his kids. But I genuinely feel like he grew very fond of both of his children.

Look, people have this impression of him that he’s a psychopath and he’s just all darkness, and he’s all cold. I think he has made decisions that sort of warrant that opinion, but I disagree. I think he’s way more complex, and I think he is an empath at the end of the day. He’s capable of love, which surprises people, but you need to give him a chance.

The Most Challenging Scene for Tom Glynn-Carney To Film in Season 2
Image via HBO

So I know you can’t get into specifics, but what was the most challenging scene for you to play this season, and can you chat a little bit about how you overcame that?

GLYNN-CARNEY: There’s a scene in Episode 2 that was very taxing and tiring for lots of reasons, emotionally and physically. They’re the ones that you do the job for, though. They’re the ones that you turn up to work and want to be an actor for, the ones that really make you work and strive for something. That was difficult on a number of levels, [not] just because of the time it took, but also the amount of emotional investment they required to get an authentic performance. But it was made a lot easier than it could have been by our fantastic director, Clare Kilner, who gave me all the space and all the time that I needed to get somewhere.

Who Would Glynn-Carney Pick To Play on Team Black?

Amazing. For a final question, I’m curious, if you could play one other character on the show on the other team, so Team Black…

GLYNN-CARNEY: The other team? Don’t do that to me!

We gotta separate these team disloyalties. You have to come together!

GLYNN-CARNEY: Rhaenyra, probably.

I love that!

GLYNN-CARNEY: Because I think she is as complicated. She gets tarred with a positive brush, but I think there’s a darker underbelly to her.

House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres Sunday, June 16 on Max.

Watch on Max