The big cameo from House of the Dragon season 2, episode 3 gets a detailed breakdown from director Geeta Vasant Patel. In the newest installment of the Game of Thrones spinoff, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) ventured to Harrenhal to secure a major stronghold for the Blacks. However, what first seemed like a simple takeover became much more complicated when, in the dark of night, Daemon walked through the castle and found himself face to face with a figure from his past: A young Rhaenyra, once again played by Milly Alcock.

In an interview with Screen Rant, episode 3 director Patel broke down Alcock’s return and explained how it impacts Daemon’s story going forward. When asked specifically if the hallucination of a younger Rhaenyra stemmed from a time when she “looked up to [Daemon], rather than looked down on him,” Patel replied, “You’re absolutely right.” She continued:

At least in my eyes, that’s what it was. “That’s the Rhaenyra I know.” And in that dream, she looks at him — and the way we talked about it is she doesn’t need to say anything. We just worked on the look; the meaning that comes from all the episodes before she looks at him, and she cuts him. She says, “Hey, you killed a boy. You don’t do that.”

People have said that to him all the way through. But when young Rhaenyra says it to him, it’s the first time he feels it. It’s the first time he processes his actions , though he’s been killing people left and right since the beginning. This is the first time we see him regret. We see him feel. We actually kept talking, in between takes, about how this is something we’ve never seen before in Daemon.

There was a take where Matt went in, and he just kept saying, “No, I need another take. I need another take.” He was really such a hardworking actor on this, and all of a sudden I saw his face break after Milly looked at him. I just saw his hands loosen, and I saw the tear in his eye. Then I had a tear in my eye because we both felt it. Even the crew got emotional at that moment. And it wasn’t about House of the Dragon, it was about making a mistake that you deeply regret that hurt somebody else. It’s just that simple. That’s what I love about working on this show. I like to think that it is a documentary with dragons. We always try to make it feel real; like something we can relate to.

Breaking Down House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 3’s Big Return

Rhaenyra’s Memory Taunts Daemon As He Grapples With Blood And Cheese

In House of the Dragon season 2 episode 3, Daemon is on his own when he arrives at Harrenhal. The previous installment saw him fight with present-day Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) over his part in the infamous Blood and Cheese plot, which resulted in the death of a child, Prince Jaehaerys. Though Daemon appeared to take no shame in his actions, Rhaenyra disapproved of what happened and called him pathetic, leading to his departure. The Daemon that now resides at Harrenhal is certainly a dangerous one, but he’s also dealing with being cut off from his niece-wife.

Alcock portrayed Rhaenyra for the first five episodes of House of the Dragon season 1, and those installments laid the groundwork for her marriage to Daemon. When Rhaenyra was still a young woman, Daemon spent time with her – sometimes in illicit locations – and built up a level of trust between them. In many ways, Rhaenyra seemed to look up to him, but his part in Blood and Cheese, as well as his harsh words toward her in season 2, episode 2, has soured her opinion of him greatly.

It’s with this in mind that Daemon travels to Harrenhal and encounters a vision of Rhaenyra sewing Jaehaerys’ head back onto his body. The hallucination represents Daemon’s most recent failures: Jaehaerys’ accidental murder, and Rhaenyra’s lost faith. By directly putting Alcock’s face on the moment, Patel and the House of the Dragon creative team have hammered home the distance Daemon feels between then and now, forced to confront what his actions have cost him.

As Daemon’s stay at Harrenhal continues, he will likely see more unsettling visions, but it remains to be seen whether Alcock will appear for any of them. Nevertheless, her brief cameo in House of the Dragon season 2 is welcome one, since her performance was deemed a highlight of the show’s initial episodes. House of the Dragon‘s timeline now spans decades, but Alcock’s brief return is a stark reminder of how far many characters have come, and how much has changed since she last graced the screen.