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House of the Dragon Episode 9, “The Green Council,” was very serious. Well, they’re all very serious but especially episode 9. So to hear that the cast and crew burst into laughter during one of the most serious moments is certainly very uncharacteristic of House of the Dragon. 

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 9, “The Green Council.”]

'House of the Dragon' Episode 9: Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke, Fabien Frankel sit on the Small Council
L-R: Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke and Fabien Frankel | Ollie Upton/HBO

Director Clare Kilner was a guest on the House of the Dragon podcast on Oct. 16. Discussing her work on episode 9, Kilner revealed the scene that broke the cast and crew. The season finale of House of the Dragon airs Oct. 23.

Mention of King Viserys’ death gave ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 9 team the giggles

Episode 9 of House of the Dragon deals with the aftermath of King Viserys (Paddy Considine)’s death. The Small Council debates Alicent (Olivia Cooke)’s claim that Viserys named Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) king. 

“We were in our final big wide shots and Rhys [Ifans] said his lines, ‘The king is dead, we just all burst into laughter,” Kilner said on the House of the Dragon podcast. “It didn’t seem real and we felt we were in an alternate world or universe. Everyone’s shoulders were shaking and there I snorted with laughter. It was not good. My first AD was like, ‘Clare, you’re the person not meant to laugh.’ Everyone did hold it together but it was so surreal because when words are said over and over again, sometimes you lose the actual emotional attachment to them.”

That ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 9 scene needed a tension breaker 

For context, Kilner explained how much work had gone into that Small Council scene. After days of filming the same thing, they had to laugh. 

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I work very closely with my DP, Alejandro Martinez. What we do is we go into the set and we act out the scene. We’re terrible actors, but Alejandro does get into it. We just want to say the words out loud and have a feel for the space that we’re in because it just starts  to take in a new life. Then we start discussing what is this scene about and if we had to shoot the scene in one shot, what would it be? That is just a really great simple way of approaching the scene and getting to what is the heart of the scene, because sometimes it takes quite a lot of work to really get into the minds and hearts of these characters because the writing is so good. I just always look for the depth of the writing. 

Clare Kilner, House of the Dragons podcast, 10/16/22

Small Council scenes are always tough 

Any scene with a crowd sitting around a table is exhausting because they have to do coverage on everybody. That was especially true in House of the Dragon Episode 9.

Especially with a big scene in the Small Council, that was I think a nine page scene. There’s so many people in that room and really it’s all about the reactions, how people are reacting to what other people are saying. So you have to go around the room shooting every person during that nine page scene and shoot all the different angles because in simple terms, if you want someone to look powerful, you do a low angle, weak you do a high angle. You want to get the camera movement pushing in on Alicent as she’s digesting the fact that her father had a plan and hadn’t involved her in this plan and that the room is divided in two. There is a lot to capture and we shot that scene over a few days.

Clare Kilner, House of the Dragons podcast, 10/16/22
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