Milly Alcock officially returns as Young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2!

Milly Alcock played Rhaenyra Targaryen for the first five episodes of House of the Dragon, before time jumped forward and she was replaced by actor Emma D'Arcy, who will play Rhaenyra for the rest of the show's run. D'Arcy is spectacular, but some fans missed Alcock's presence and wondered whether she would ever return to the show, perhaps in a flashback scene?

Speaking before the second season premiered on HBO, Alcock flatly denied that this was happening. “No. It’s done.” And she wasn't lying: Alcock did not return as Young Rhaenyra Targaryen in a flashback scene...but she did return in a dream sequence.

In the third episode of House of the Dragon season 2, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) travels to the castle of Harrenhal. He long ago married Rhaenyra, who is also his niece, and he's here to set up a military toehold on her behalf, so that she might be better positioned to win the war she's waging against her half-brother Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), who is contesting her claim to the Iron Throne.

Or at least, that's what Daemon is supposed to be doing. In the previous episode, he and Rhaenyra had a monster fight where she pointed out — not without reason — that Daemon married her in part to shore up his own power, which was diminishing as his brother King Viserys had more kids and it was looking less and less likely that he'd ever sit the Iron Throne himself. By marrying Viserys' chosen heir, Rhaenyra, he put himself in a position where he could still maintain a grip on power.

Now, Daemon is at a crossroads: does he unequivocally support his wife in her ambition to sit the Iron Throne, or does he take this opportunity to try and snag it for himself? The dilemma is keeping him up at night, and as he wanders the purportedly haunted halls of Harrenhal, he comes upon a strange sight: Young Rhaenyra Targaryen, played by Milly Alcock, stitching the head of young Jaehaerys Targaryen back onto his neck. Jaehaerys was the son of King Aegon; he was murdered in the season premiere.

Not only that, but Jaehaerys was decapitated by a pair of mercenaries Daemon hired and sent into the Red Keep hoping they would kill the king's vicious brother Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). The mercenaries couldn't find Aemond, so they slew Jaehaerys, an innocent child, instead. So surely that's weighing on Daemon as well. It's why Young Rhaenyra talks about always having to clean up after Daemon as she goes about her work.

Daemon then finds himself in the Harrenhal godswood, and it's unclear if he's still in a dream. But who cares? Milly Alcock got to return to House of the Dragon, even if it's only for that one scene.

The dream sequence seems to be about Daemon's guilt, so I wonder if the fact that it's Young Rhaenyra rather than Adult Rhaenyra stiching Jaehaeyrs back together is significant. Daemon must feel at least somewhat bad about getting Jaehaerys killed. And he may harbour some guilt about seducing his niece all those years ago as well.

It's unclear if Milly Alcock will appear again as Young Rhaenyra this season, but we'll be watching to find out. New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.

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