Rhaenyra Targaryen is the first character we hear speaking High Valyrian in House of the Dragon and so far she has the most lines in the ancient language. Milly Alcock revealed during the Official Game of Thrones podcast that it was easy learning the lines. “It was just kind of like learning another song in another language. I would learn the scene in English, and then I would have it printed out on a sheet,” Alcock said. “And they would have it phonetically and then they would have an audio recording. And then I would just say it. So it became muscle memory. So I didn’t have to think about what I was saying, it was just like my mouth was on autopilot, basically.”
It may have been easy to remember the lines but Milly Alcock still made mistakes because of the memorization. “It would just be me like [speaking high Valyrian]. [Impersonates frustrated exclamation] That was our dialogue coach. Or I would find myself saying old lines in High Valyrian because my mouth would know the pattern. So if they were too similar, I would find myself saying the wrong line,” Alcock said before sharing an instance of how it would happen. “So it would start similarly, and I would go back and then the girl would be like, ‘Milly, that was Episode 2.’ I’d be like, ‘Oh sh-t sorry, my bad,’” she said. Although mistakes were made, we’re still impressed with how Milly Alcock makes Rhaenyra Targaryen sound right at home speaking in High Valyrian. Needless to say, we can’t wait to hear Rhaenyra speaking in the language again soon. House of the Dragon Episode 4 will premiere on HBO on Sunday, September 11, 2022, at 9:00 PM EST.
