Jamie Kenna gives away some of Alfred Broome's intriguing journey on House of the Dragon season 2

It takes a village to make a show as complicated as House of the Dragon. You've got lead characters like Rhaenyra, Daemon and Aegon Targaryen, as well as secondary players like Larys Strong and Jacaerys Velaryon. But what about the walk-on guys who only say a few lines in the background...until they become hugely important?

Ser Alfred Broome (Jamie Kenna) may be one of those characters. One of Queen Rhaenyra's counselors, he was introduced in the second episode of season 2, gently suggesting that maybe Rhaenyra did order the hit on the young Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen, despite her protests to the contrary. Rhaenyra's cousin Rhaenys (Eve Best) shut that suggestion down.

“[Episode two] was a really nice introduction to his manner, to how he feels,” Kenna told The Hollywood Reporter. “Because I think even in that tiny little bit, they did a very nice moment where they focused on the guards staring at me and Rhaenys gets me in line. If you watch it again, it sets it up to show that this guy’s not afraid to say something. And that’s very much where the journey goes, with the climax of that in the last episode. No spoilers, but he tries to take things into his own hands a little bit.”

If you're read George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, you know that Alfred Broome does indeed go on a bit of a journey. (Beware SPOILERS ahead!) Basically, on account of no one liking him very much, Rhaenyra passes him over for a promotion. What he does next I'll leave to the show to lay out, but it lines up with Kenna saying that Broome "tries to take things into his own hands."

Going into further spoilers, Kenna said that he's been on the set of Harrenhal, the crumbling castle where Daemon Targaryen is heading. “My first day, I walked on set, and I’m with Matt Smith on the set of Harrenhal – which is mind-boggling, how they build those sets out of wood – and he couldn’t have been friendlier," he said. "He couldn’t have been more welcoming. Matt Smith is a very, very generous actor. So the whole experience exceeded expectations… The atmosphere is so friendly. Everyone’s just so happy to be there. It feels like a small job, which is lovely.”

Compliments about Matt Smith aside, it's interesting to hear that Ser Alfred will eventually make his way to Harrenhal, where Daemon is establishing a military toehold in the Riverlands on behalf of his wife, Queen Rhaenyra. And if you want a more general tease, Kenna is promising “excitement, controversy, war and naughtiness" ahead in season 2. “It’s all a mess,” the actor says of the looming civil war. “People are trying to grasp control. So [Ser Alfred] very much wants to go in and stamp. He thinks we should be going all guns blazing, sending out messages. He’s a general, so he’s not rash. He wants to build an army, and he wants to do things the right way, in a functional way.”

A veteran of British soaps like Coronation Street as well as series like The Crown, Jamie Kenna describes House of the Dragon as his dream job. “I knew it was the biggest, it was the next level that I’d always wanted,” he said. “This is the job I’d been waiting for. While I was so elated when I did get it, I didn’t realize, even then, the scale of [House of the Dragon]. There’s house banners on some of the world’s most iconic buildings, dragons on the Empire State Building. They didn’t do that forCoronation Street.”

He's enjoyed the experience so much that he even got the House Broome crest tattooed on his leg. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had.” See him in action when House of the Dragon returns this Sunday night on HBO and Max.

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