‘House of the Dragon:’ Director Greg Yaitanes Blends Love of Families, Dragons in the ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel

Director Greg Yaitanes (House) loved Game of Thrones as much as we all did.

But it wasn’t necessarily the caché of the landmark, Emmy-winning series that drew him to its prequel series House of the Dragon. Sure, it’s a daunting task to play within that world given the giant that came before it, but House of the Dragon‘s focus narrows from the continent-spanning saga to a smaller, more intimate family drama about the perils of succession handled poorly.

It’s that family drama that appealed most to the Emmy-winner.

“A theme that attracted me is that these are stories of families. Coming from a Greek family with various dysfunctions and infighting and love and complications, these are all themes I’ve lived in some portion of my life with my family,” Yaitanes explained. “That is what I grab onto before there are any effects or any dragons or anything like that. I was just sucked into the family drama outside of all the director bait of the vast canvas to tell the story on.”

Yaitanes directed three episodes of House of the Dragon, including the heavily buzzed season finale. Along the way, Yaitanes loves to insert sly directorial touches to underscore the narrative and themes happening within the context of a scene. For example, early in the series, a young Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) is tasked with selecting a new member of the king’s guard. However, when the candidates assemble in a courtyard below her position on the balcony, she can’t see them well enough to judge. An assistant provides her with a small stepping stool, and she’s able to position herself appropriately.

It’s a small, seemingly throw-away moment that underscores Rhaenyra owns the mantle of the future queen, but she’s still a small child. The moment emerged as one of Yaitanes’s favorite of the series.

“I like favorite little details, and that moment happened through a process of discovery. We actually went to that part of the set to rehearse, and as tall as Milly is, she had to bend over to do the scene. I thought we should get the stool to really accentuate the fact that this was a world built for men and to catch the fact that she’s stepping into this world built for men,” Yaitanes explained. “So I’m so glad you noticed that. It’s one of the details that I really love, and I appreciate that you’ve noticed the things you notice because those were the intentions behind them.”

Another small detail that spoke volumes actually closed the series.

After discovering the death of her son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), adult Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) backs away from those surrounding her toward a roaring fireplace. When she turns around, the look in her eyes reveals her rapid transition from a position of peace into a raging, burning hatred leading to an inevitable path of war. Yaitanes, D’Arcy, and Daemon Targaryen Matt Smith worked a full day on the sequence, trying different beats and diverging slightly from the moments written into the script. After a long day, Yaitanes and D’Arcy pushed forward for one more take, which ultimately ended up in the finished product.

Yaitanes also loved visually expanding on the eerie and bizarre appearance of an early threat, the Crabfeeder. Slaughtering sailors at a crucial junction called the Stepstones, the odd character doesn’t have a great deal of screen time, but Yaitanes’s attention to detail helped create a visual narrative that extended into full Game of Thrones lore. Yaitanes advocated for the character to suffer from greyscale, an affliction well known within the GOT universe. That led to the adoption of a partial face mask that greatly resembles masks later worn by the Sons of the Harpy, potentially suggesting a world in which the Crabfeeder becomes something of a Guy Fawkes-level anti-hero. Again, it’s all in the details for Yaitanes as a director.

But his most beloved contribution within the series lands near the end of the season. The climatic sky battle between Lucerys and Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) on dragon back emerged as one of the most buzzed-about moments of the entire series. Audiences loved the brilliant pacing, the sense of dread enhanced by the cloud setting, and the single shot of the enormous dragon Vhagar visually engulfing the much smaller Arrax.

To plan for the sequence, Yaitanes basically played with toys along with his cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino.

“McFarlane dragon toys. He made a line of toys, and the best dragon that I was able to use was the one from Harry Potter and a few others from the line. Pepe and I got together over sausage rolls and morning tea and used the figures and our iPhones to stage it,” laughed Yaitanes.

He wanted the scene to take place in a story so that the lightning effects would lend the opportunity to stun with the surprise of the giant Vhagar suddenly appearing over the comparatively tiny Arrax. He also lobbied for the final, brutal act of violence — an enraged and uncontrollable Vhagar bites Arrax in half, killing both the dragon and his Targaryen rider — to take place in a beautiful, seemingly safe space above the clouds. Just when the audience thinks Lucerys is safe, Yaitanes ripped it away with an elegantly staged moment of terror.

All built with the extra touches and delicate nuance that underscore what a truly great director he is.

House of the Dragon streams in its entirety on MAX.