Rhaena Targaryen turns up on House of the Dragon set

HBO is currently filming the second season of House of the Dragon in Bourne Woods in England. Boy are they ever filming in Bourne Woods. I’m not sure I can remember another on-location site being used for so many different things. For instance:

• HBO is filming a huge battle scene on the site: the Battle at Rook’s Rest, which will probably go down in Episode 4, since we saw director Alan Taylor on set.
• The crew has dressed the area with fake snow, implying they’re filming scenes set in the North, which is far away from Rook’s Rest. Rook’s Rest is just outside King’s Landing.
• We’ve gotten hints that Matt Smith filmed something in the area. His character, Daemon Targaryen, doesn’t go to Rook’s Rest or the North in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based.

And now, we have yet another scene in the mix. Photos are now floating around online of actor Phoebe Campbell in costume near Bourne Woods, alongside a double who’s dressed and styled exactly like her. Phoebe Campbell, if you don’t remember, played Daemon Targaryen’s daughter Rhaena Targaryen in the first season of House of the Dragon. Obviously we’re not surprised to see her on set — we knew her character was coming back — although I am impressed with just how much use HBO is getting out of this one location.

Rhaena Targaryen shows off new hairstyle on House of the Dragon season 2 set

Campbell was spotted alongside cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt, who works with director Geeta Patel. Patel is directing Episodes 3 and 8 of House of the Dragon season 2. So while the Battle at Rook’s Rest will likely happen in Episode 4, whatever scene they’re filming with Rhaena will come in Episodes 3 or 8.

Rhaena is the twin sister of Baela Targaryen, played by Bethany Antonia. To be fair, the photos from the set are of a fairly low quality and it’s a little hard to tell if we’re looking at Rhaena or Baela. But the hairstyle gives it away. In Fire & Blood, Baela — who is more of a tomboy than her sister — keeps her hair short and simple, while Rhaena wears hers in a more complicated fashion. In the first season, this meant that Baela had fairly simple un-styled locks while Rhaena wore her hair in some kind of medieval beehive.

In the new photos from the set, the beehive hairdo is gone, but Rhaena is still wearing some complicated braids. We haven’t seen Baela on set as of yet, but I’m hoping she cuts her hair short like in the book.

And now we come to the SPOILERS portion of the post. Beware.

What happens to Rhaena Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2?

So what scene are they filming with Rhaena? Well, in Fire & Blood, once the war starts, Baela remains at Dragonstone but Rhaena is shipped off to the Vale, where she stays with Rhaenyra Targaryen’s ally Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin). The idea is that both Rhaena and Baela are valuable to the future of the Seven Kingdoms, so Rhaenyra and Daemon decide they should stay far apart from one another, since if one is attacked the other will still be safe. So perhaps Phoebe Campbell is filming a scene set in the Vale, which explains why Rhaena is alone.

One more set report before we go: we also got a new picture of the part of Bourne Woods that the show has dressed with fake snow. HBO has installed floodlights to brighten up the place in the dark, so it looks like whatever scene they’re filming in the North will be set at night.

The second season of House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and Max sometime in 2024.

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