'House of the Dragon' Finale Was Nearly Tanked by COVID — Until One of Its Twin Stars Pulled a Clever Trick

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

House of the Dragonmade a sneaky, but necessary, casting switch that seems to have gone over viewers' heads until now.

“There’s that scene, that big scene where Corlys [Steve Toussaint] comes down and they’re putting the markers on the table and the messenger comes in,” director Greg Yaitanes toldEntertainment Weekly’sWest of Westerospodcast. “It was a shot over two days and then one got COVID,” he adds. “[Elliott] got COVID, so we swapped him out with his brother.”

It turned out to be a giant blessing. Yaitanes said the COVID diagnosis “would’ve killed us” had Elliot not had a twin.

“We were just about to do all Emma’s coverage and he is standing right next to [them],” he said.

Those who watchedtheGame of Thronesprequel know the twin characters were actually split in terms of who they supported for the Iron Throne. Arryk (Luke) was in support of Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) son Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), while Kingsguard member Erryk (Elliot) chose to bow to the once-promised Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy).

In the finale, Eeryk approached Rhaenyra with the crown that once belonged to her father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine). He declared her queen and started a movement of others bowing down in support for the woman who was promised the throne in her teens.

Upon Viserys' death, he left Alicent with a cryptic message about the promised prince that would “unite the realm against the cold.” He asked Alicent to fulfill the prophecy — which she interpreted as his admission that Aegon II should be the King, despite Viserys’s previous, long-standing wish to instate Rhaenyra as the first queen of Westeros.

As the season ended, viewers saw two very distinct sides prepare for an inevitable battle over the throne.

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House of the Dragonhas already beenrenewed for season 2; season 1 can be streamed in its entirety on HBO Max.

source: people.com