‘House of the Dragon’: Gayle Rankin Talks Alys Rivers’ Long Game & Mystifying Daemon Targaryen

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4, “The Red Dragon and the Gold.”]

Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) has had his mental work cut out for him ever since his arrival at Harrenhal. From disturbing hallucinations, one of which included Daemon beheading young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), to disorienting dreams, nothing has thrown Daemon off his axis quite like his time at the cursed castle.

One constant at Harrenhal has been the mysterious Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), a bastard child of House Strong and resident healer of sorts. For readers of George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Alys Rivers is a beloved character (known to many as the “Witch Queen of Harrenhal”), one fans have been looking forward to being introduced on House of the Dragon.

Rankin spoke with TV Insider about the enchanting and powerful Alys. her true intentions with Daemon Targaryen, and going toe-to-toe with the “scariest motherf***er around.”

Did you read the Alys Rivers portions of Fire & Blood? 

Gayle Rankin: The first audition, I did not know who I was auditioning to play. I was auditioning to play “AR.” And then I was kind of told who it was, and I was able to go into the book and read the portions, which are really fascinating. There’s so much hearsay and back and forth about Alys from so many different perspectives — mostly male perspectives, too — about who she is, what she is, where she comes from, what she’s going to do, and what she’s not going to do. It made me so excited.

Beyond the text, did you find inspiration from anywhere to help create your version of Alys? 

Absolutely. I’m from Scotland originally, so I really felt strongly that I wanted her to be Celtic, like Scottish, where I’m from generally. I found that to be really interesting because it was like this pagan aspect with that. The other option would be for her to be English, and there’s not that many Scottish characters. Beesbury was Scottish, but no one in the House Strong is Scottish, so what are we saying about her relationship to Harrenhal and being a member of the Strong household?

I enjoyed adding that part of my own heritage to the character because I thought it really helped with specificity in terms of the pagan aspect of her craft and also grounding her. It also made her more mysterious because it’s like, wait, where’s she from? It was like a jumping-off point, and Ryan [Condal] and everybody at HBO were really excited about me using my own accent. I think it gives her this unique power in some ways because she is untouchable and doesn’t have a familial lineage. It also makes her vulnerable, too, because she’s out there in Harrenhal on her own for years. What’s she been doing? Where did she come from? I have a backstory as an actor. That’s kind of my process, and that huge part of it for me to really ground her and make her a real woman.

Alys is the first time we’ve seen magic in House of the Dragon. Witchcraft and magic are very powerful in a different way than the physical prowess of the dragons. How would you rank her power compared to the dragons and what she might be holding in? 

I think what’s interesting, and if you’ve read the books, where Alys ends up is in a pretty powerful position. Prophecy is like the missing piece to take over the throne. Prophecy and magic and witchcraft and that kind of power have amazing brute force. Dragons are magical in their own way, but there’s something about being able to manipulate and understand and know things about the world. It’s kind of speaking to a bigger theme inside the story, which is that it’s an extremely female-centric power story. The fact that these women know things and know how to do things, and they aren’t being helped or respected, like Mysaria and Alicent and obviously Rhaenyra. These women know what they’re doing. They know, and Alys definitely has another kind of knowing. I think it’s cool to add that to the pot.

Ollie Upton / HBO

Alys has only interacted with Daemon so far. What does she want from him? Does she want to break him? 

I think as much as Alys is in charge, there’s also something bigger that’s at play. I think she knows that, and it kind of allows her, weirdly, to be with Daemon in this experience. I think we’re going to start to, hopefully, get to see them actually interact. As much as Alys has all this power, there are things about her that she wants and desires and has her eye toward. There’s a long game, I think, for this character. My interpretation and hope to get through is that she also has a human yearning and yearns for human connection. I think someone with a lot of power like that, who’s been alone for a long time, how is that going to play out when they get to spend time with a human being?

She told Daemon that she’s “not so bad” once you get to know her. That was a really human moment in the midst of this otherworldly experience at Harrenhal. 

She desires to be known, I think, and that’s really interesting that she desires to be known by the scariest motherf***er around. She’s kind of here for it. There’s something really progressive about that because the thing about Alys is she’s able to see something in Daemon that’s important to be seen. She’s fearless. I think when you wait around for 400 years, when you get an opportunity to get involved in your life for your purpose, which I think Daemon is a part of her life and her purpose, like, go for it. She’s going for it.

In Episode 3, she told Daemon that he’d “die” at Harrenhal. Did she say it as a warning or just a fact? 

I think it’s good that we’re asking that question because I think that exposes a lot about her. I don’t think she knows really how Daemon is going to play out in her life. As much as she knows everything, I don’t know if Alys knows everything, you know? I think there’s a learning happening with her, too. I think there’s warning, there’s fact, there’s empathy, there’s power dynamic playing out.

Do you think all of her power is contained at Harrenhal? Is that something you’ve thought about?

I’m sure it’s something that she’s thought about. I think it’s something that she’s probably worried about and excited about and challenged by. I think that’s an exciting question for the show because, ultimately, it doesn’t seem like it is, but I don’t know if she knows that. I don’t know how that would change her.

What can you tease about what’s next for Alys regarding her dynamic with Daemon? It feels like we’re at a tipping point after the hallucinations and visions. 

I think that’s what’s interesting is that there is a tipping point. What happens? How do power dynamics start to shift? Hopefully, the audience will be hungry to see how we are going to start finding out more about Alys and there might be potential for that.

I wanted to point out that Daemon just accepted that cup of whatever Alys was brewing in Episode 4, no questions asked. He didn’t seem scared by it, as if there was a certain trust there. 

There’s something quite comforting about their dynamic. I think no one has ever challenged Daemon, and it’s interesting how Alys kind of flip flops between maternal energy and friend energy and kind of a little sexual tension, and any different kind of tools she has but also things that she wants to experiment with.

Related

'HOTD' Star Breaks Down the Tragic Death at Rook's Rest

Aemond and Alys have a very prominent relationship in Fire & Blood. Is there anything you can say about them possibly meeting this season?

I can’t. I think my whole thing with talking about Alys and talking about the journey is I think patience is going to be a really… I think it’s going to pay off because I think all of these things are so informative of one another.

You’re currently on Broadway playing another notable role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. What has the role of Alys and getting the opportunity to build out such a fan-favorite character felt like as an actor? 

I feel so lucky. It’s been fascinating because she is such a beloved character. I’ve gotten to a place with my work where I think assertion and confidence is so important. I love to take a big swing and that can feel really scary because art is subjective and making things is subjective, and you can’t control it. I feel my confidence growing, which is really cool, and I don’t know where that’s going to lead me, but I feel strong. I never thought I would be saying that.

House of the Dragon, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO, Streaming on Max