House of the Dragon: Alys Rivers star reacts to shocking Episode 7 scene

'Very odd, f**ked-up scene'

The episode, now streaming on HBO Max, opens with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) arriving at Harrenhal on a mission from Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) to lure out Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) so his rivals can finally kill him.

What begins as a mother greeting her son with maternal praise turns disturbingly intimate, with Rankin's Alys drawn into the fallout.

The Targaryen saga has never shied away from taboo, having previously left viewers horrified by its most graphic content.

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel has spent its third season deepening the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, pitting rival claimants against one another for the Iron Throne.

Rankin discussed the "f***ed up" sequence, an "unbearable" family dinner and her character's dragon egg plans in an interview with Variety, reflecting on how uncomfortable the material was to perform.

"We tried to like make jokes, just to keep it lighthearted because those scenes are not easy and they’re complicated and very technical. So it was also just like it was another day at the office for being like a very odd, fucked-up scene."

Gayle Rankin

With episodes of season three still to air, Alys Rivers' role in the bloody war for the Iron Throne looks far from over.