House of the Dragon‘s first season seated Tom Glynn-Carney’s Aegon on the Iron Throne. But despite wearing the Conqueror’s crown Alicent’s oldest son still felt like a minor player in his own war for succession. That was not the case during season two. Aegon was one of the biggest players in the prequel’s deadly family game of thrones. As was Glynn-Carney himself, who delivered one of the best, most complicated, most challenging performances of the season. Nerdist spoke to him about that, where Larys is really taking the injured King, how he feels about his mom, and more following season two’s finale. We also found out why we shouldn’t give up hope just yet of eventually seeing Aegon’s awful mustache from Fire & Blood.
Nerdist: I’m told you’re on holiday in a remote area, so I have to ask the obvious question: are you currently vacationing in Braavos?
Tom Glynn-Carney: :laughs: No. No, I’m not.
I’m in :actual location—which Nerdist can confirm is beautiful—withheld so Aemond Targaryen doesn’t find out:.
Do you know exactly where Larys is taking Aegon after the House of the Dragon season two finale? Is it really Braavos?
Glynn-Carney: Can’t disclose that information at this point, I don’t think. But wherever it is, it’s somewhere. Sorry, I just made that up. I don’t know.
Does Aegon have any doubts about Larys, or does he fully trust him at this point?
Glynn-Carney: He’s the best of a bad bunch in the Red Keep. I think there is a certain amount of trust that he has towards Larys just because there’s common ground. They’re both physically impaired now, and Larys has lived his entire life in that state. So there’s some sort of connectivity going on there, but also it seems like he does have Aegon’s best interests at heart at this point. I don’t think Aegon wants to look too much into that at the moment. He will find cracks in the woodwork. So yeah, he’s a lifeline at the moment. And he shall be used accordingly.
At this point, how does Aegon feel about his mother, Alicent, in House of the Dragon?
Glynn-Carney: That’s a good question. I think he feels there’s this undying love that he has for Alicent. Aegon, he’s her first born son, and yet there’s never been this kind of understanding or eye-to-eye that they’ve had. He knows she’s flawed, and she knows he’s flawed, and I think they expect a lot from each other that neither of them are able to give. But at this point, he’s not thinking that rationally. He likes to point the finger and he needs to find somebody to blame. He blames Aemond, of course. But also for it to get to this point, Alicent has sort of steered the ship in a certain way. So yeah, there’s a lot going on there. It’s quite a complex relationship.
I know as an actor you have to find Aegon’s humanity, but does the King himself recognize, in any way, he’s a monster?
Glynn-Carney: I think he’s dancing with the idea of being loved and feared at the same time. I know I’ve said that in interviews before, but I think it’s a good way of putting it. Those two things don’t really go together. He’s trying to work out a way for his approach to being the king and to ruling. He’s trying to strike a balance where he remains effective, but also people listen to him. At the moment he hasn’t been listened to, which is kind of why he’s had to force himself into this position of being proactive in a way that he was not ready to do.
So, no, I don’t think he thinks he’s a monster because I don’t think he is a monster. I think he’s somebody who’s very tortured and traumatized by his own making really. But I also think it makes somebody more dangerous when they don’t realize potential. I don’t think he does quite just yet.
Considering I know how important Aegon is to the story, I was very frustrated by how little the show featured you in season one. Did you know back then just how big your role would be in season two of House of the Dragon?
Glynn-Carney: I was warned it was an introduction. Just in terms of the time jump. We couldn’t really have the older versions of our characters, myself and Helaena and Aemond and the likes, because of the time jump we were making. I understood season one was always more of an introduction to our versions of these characters, and season two would really lift off. And season three and onwards would just get tastier and tastier as time went on. So no, I didn’t feel shortchanged or let down or anything. I was always updated with the plan.
The show is charting its own course and making some big changes to the Dance of the Dragons. Have (showrunner) Ryan Condal and the writers given you a heads-up on what awaits Aegon in seasons three and four of House of the Dragon?
Glynn-Carney: Yeah, I’ve spoken to Ryan and writers Sara Hess and David Hancock a lot about their ideas, about the trajectory that they want Aegon to go on. They have been quite…there’s been details, but not too detailed because of giving things away and not locking things in the writing room. It’s exciting to listen to and it’s exciting to understand where their thoughts are and include me in that as well, which is great. It feels very collaborative that they want to know my thoughts and the rest of the actors on their own characters journeys really. It’s great.
I think this is really saying something on a show this well acted: your performance this year was a revelation for many and has rightfully earned very high praise. What’s it been like personally hearing that kind of response to your work?
Glynn-Carney: It’s very kind. Thank you. To be honest, I try and stay away from all of the conversations about it. It feels like my work, for now anyway, has been done. And I want to sort of put it to bed and move on and not really dwell on it. I think if I get too engaged with what people are saying, and the noises people are making, I’ll get too in my head. That’s not really the way I like to work. But I’m really glad to hear that people are responding well and they’re seeing lots of different colors to Aegon that they didn’t anticipate.
That was my job from the first day on set, to bring this character to life in a multidimensional, varied, color palette kind of way. And he’s an absolute gift to play. I think you’d do well to do a bad job of a character like Aegon. He’s a gift that keeps on giving.
You had to do a lot this year as Aegon on House of the Dragon season two. What is more challenging as a performer: the big physical, loud, emotional scenes from earlier in the season or the quieter ones after Aegon’s injuries?
Glynn-Carney: Both for different reasons. I dunno, that’s like comparing badminton with tennis, two very different sports. In terms of stamina, probably the louder, more kind of theatrical scenes. They require a lot of focus and a lot of energy and usually emotional depth and agility. But saying that, when I’m in the bed, covered in all the prosthetics and stuff, that’s tiring in its own way and difficult to remain focused on the task at hand. So yeah, both have their own challenges, but I revel in both arenas.
My last question, and I would not forgive myself if I didn’t ask this, what happened to Aegon’s terrible little mustache from Fire & Blood?
Glynn-Carney: :laughs: Good question. You know what? I had this conversation with Amanda Knight, the wonderful hair and makeup designer on the show. We spoke about this at the start, about whether we could bring that to life, because I remember seeing pictures of him. And she was like, “You know what? You might not want to sustain that for the amount of time that we do this show. So maybe let’s go clean shaven and see where we get from there.” But that’s not to say that it might not come at some point, even though he has had his face burned; it might be half a mustache, but we’ll see.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. As a Rhaenyra supporter he can’t believe he was excited to speak to Alicent’s son. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings. (Just don’t tell AEgon where he has him on the list.)