House Of The Dragon Season 1’s Final Moment Was Originally Much More Dramatic, Storyboards Revealed

House of the Dragon season 1’s final moment as Rhaenyra receives grave news was originally much more dramatic, as revealed by storyboards.
House of the Dragon season 1’s final moment was originally much more dramatic, storyboards reveal. Aired in October 2022, the House of the Dragon season 1 ending sees Lucerys, riding on Arrax, engaged in a dragon fight with Aemond on Vhagar above Storm’s End. Disobeying its rider, the monstrous Vhagar ultimately devours the smaller Arrax, killing Lucerys. The season 1 finale’s final scene sees Rhaenyra receiving the word of the death of her second-born son and, with a deadly stare into the camera, demonstrates her devastation and feeling of impending war.
As the wait for House of the Dragon season 2 continues, storyboards shared by Adam Pescott on Instagram reveal that season 1’s final moment was originally much more dramatic.
In the storyboards, Rhaenyra is seated on the Dragonstone Throne instead of standing around the Painted Table. As Daemon delivers the grave news to Rhaenyra, she clenches her fists and screams out in agony. The storyboards still end with Rhaenyra staring into the camera, but as she does, a dragon is heard roaring offscreen before Syrax suddenly emerges from darkness.
House Of The Dragon Season 1’s Final Shot Took A More Subtle Approach

House of the Dragon season 1’s final shot ended up taking a much more subtle approach than the one depicted in the storyboards. Originally, the scene appeared to be a long and drawn-out dramatic sequence, tracking Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) along the corridor, through the doors, and racing through the throne room to deliver the grave news to Rhaenyra. Upon hearing it, Rhaenyra appeared to scream “Noooooo!” similar to Darth Vader learning of Padmé’s death in Revenge of the Sith.
Scrapping the scream makes the scene more subtle, and also avoids any chance of invoking the much-memed moment from Star Wars: Episode III. This approach allows Emma D’Arcy’s performance in the final moment to depict Rhaenyra’s sorrow, which slowly and gradually turns to rage, a truly mesmerizing moment to behold. Up until that point, Rhaenyra had been showing restraint and trying to avoid all-out civil war, but with just a withering look, she demonstrated that a devastating war is coming in House of the Dragon season 2.