Warning: This story contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 1. Please proceed with caution!
Not everyone survived the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet.
Harry Collett, who has played Jacaerys “Jace” Velaryon since Season 1, was killed during the big-screen-worthy naval battle in the Season 3 premiere. Jace and his dragon, Vermax, were fighting over the open ocean when enemies speared the creature with a rope attached to an anchor, dragging them both underwater. Vermax drowned, and Jace briefly resurfaced before three arrows struck him, killing Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) son and the future king.
The 22-year-old English actor is proud of how he went out, telling Gold Derby he hopes it’s the “best death” the show will ever have. However, he adds that Vermax dying “is actually just as sad” as Jace’s demise.
“The noises that it makes actually sound like a dog dying, which is really horrible,” Collett admits. “I don’t want anybody to just focus on Jace’s death this episode. We’ve lost a really good dragon as well, so people should take that into account.” Justice for Vermax, HotD fans!
Also in our postmortem Q&A, Collett talks about being “eternally grateful” to have received this role at such a young age, how he’s known that Jace would be killed off for several years, and why he took horse-riding lessons to prepare for his scenes atop the dragon.
Gold Derby: When did you learn that Jace would not be making it past the season premiere?
Harry Collett: Season 1, actually. I’ve always known. And that’s actually kind of special, because it gave me something to look forward to. I obviously knew what they were going to do, I just didn’t know how big they were going to make it. And it was huge. The episode is incredible, and I’m so chuffed with how it’s turned out. A lot of people come up to me and go, “I’m so sorry they killed you off.” And I’m like, “No, it’s fine. Like, I’ve not been fired. I’ve known this is going to happen the entire time.”
You did have a really cool death: the Battle of the Gullet, the dragon going under the water, we think you’re going to live, but then the arrows come. What was your reaction when you found out how it would happen?
I got goosebumps reading the script. It was like, “How are they going to do this on screen?” But obviously, I had so much faith in Ryan [Condal, the showrunner] and Loni [Peristere, the director]. The first time I watched it was in London a couple of weeks ago, and I had goosebumps even watching it on my laptop. And then I watched it in the cinema, which was a completely different experience and extremely fun. What a way to go, ay? It’s such a good way to go. And it’s not just been brushed under the carpet — it’s really, really something.
If you’re going to go out, I think you had one of the best deaths on the show so far, so kudos.
I think so. I know this sounds selfish, but I hope it doesn’t get any better than that. Hopefully my death is the best death! [Laughs]
Viewers are used to seeing humans dying, but when the dragon died, I was so upset. I haven’t recovered.
I mean, it’s actually just as sad. The noises that it makes actually sounds like a dog dying, which is really horrible. And it’s sad because they probably loved each other. They grew up together, Jace and Vermax, so it’s just as sad [to see them lose] each other. I don’t want anybody to just focus on Jace’s death this episode. We’ve lost a really good dragon as well, so people should take that into account.”
Leading up to that battle, Jace locked his mother in her room so that she wouldn’t be able to join the fight. Do you think he saved her life?
It’s hard to say, because Rhaenyra would have been more experienced within battle, and so maybe not. But I feel like that was all of Jace’s intention. He didn’t lock her up in malice. He locked her up in terms of, “You are who we care about right now, and you’re my mother, and I want to keep you safe. Let me go.” He’s tried and tried and tried for seasons to go to battle, but now it’s finally like, “No one’s listening to me. I’m just going to go and do this myself.” I don’t want people to think that Jace betrayed his mother, because even though he kind of did, it all came from a good place in Jace’s heart. I think people should look at it that way.
Rhaenyra has already lost her son, Luke, and now she’s lost Jace. What do you think this is going to do to her mindset?
It’s going to change it completely. We’re going to get to see a different side to Rhaenyra that no one has ever seen before. Without saying too much, it’s going to change the whole course of how everybody thinks. I feel like Jace’s death really opened the floodgates to all-out war, and it’s no longer going to be, “We shouldn’t really go to war? How can we avoid it?” Now, no one’s going to be thinking about that. It’s just going to be all-out death and chaos, which I think is really great for the show. [Laughs]
If Jace had lived, perhaps one day he would have been king. How do you think he would have ruled? Would he have been someone that was respected or feared?
Maybe a bit of both. I feel like he would have wanted to be a little bit feared, because fear is power sometimes. But ultimately, even like it says in the books, he would have been a great leader. He would have been very un-problematic. He would have tried to make friends with everybody, all the other houses, and try and create unity and peace, especially after being through what he went through when he was younger. That would have been a big thing on his list. He saw a lot of people die, especially those that he loves, and he would do everything in his power to not let that happen again.
Take us behind the scenes of what it’s like as the actor to ride a dragon.
To be honest, I did a few horse-riding lessons, just to get the posture and movement right and to gather different information. There’s so many wind machines when you’re up there, you can’t actually hear a lot. Loni was on a megaphone the entire time screaming notes, which really helped immerse the chaos-ness of this whole battle, and really helped me get more involved in it and into character. We actually had [an animatronic buck] in the water, too. That bit where you see Vermax and Jace halfway in the water, that was all on the buck. When you see Jace slowly going down, that was me being dragged down by the buck. It was impossible for me to drown with all the air in my body, and also the air that was puffing up in the clothes.
You clearly did a lot of your own stunts. Was there anything they wouldn’t let you do?
I don’t think so. I think I did everything. I had a great stunt double on this, but he would more be around to show me the ropes before I went and did it. He would practice it before, make sure it was safe, and then I would go off and do it. I was really lucky, because I got to do pretty much everything. Maybe they were like, “[His safety] doesn’t matter. He’s not on the show anymore. He’s not under insurance anymore.” [Laughs] No, no, I’m kidding.
What’s something you always wanted to do on the show, but you never got the chance to do?
I wanted to kill someone. I really wanted to kill someone. Seeing Daemon [Matt Smith] do it all the time, that was an itch I wanted to scratch. And I wanted to work with all the greats. I wish I worked with Rhys [Ifans] a lot more, and Olivia [Cooke], and Tom [Glynn-Carney], and Ewan [Mitchell], and Phia [Saban], and all the other side of the family. We didn’t see each other at all, really. That’s probably something I’d wish I’d gotten to do: work with those people — and definitely, definitely kill someone. I feel like Jace would be very good at that, weirdly.
What did this role mean to you, particularly at such a young age?
It’s changed my life. It’s a role that I was always waiting for. I sort of got stuck in a rut when I was younger, playing the same kid characters all the time. But this felt like an adult job, an adult story, and an adult role, and it’s really matured me as an actor. I know there are millions of other people that would want to be in the same position I’m in right now, so I never, ever take it for granted. It can be a lot sometimes, and it was a lot of pressure. Obviously, Game of Thrones has a huge fanbase that’s going to come with House of the Dragon. I just felt like, “Will people like me? Will the fans accept me as Jace?” They have such an idea in their head of what they want the character to be from the books, so I just hoped to fit that. You can’t make everybody happy all the time, but that was probably the biggest challenge. But I’m eternally grateful. It’s been an absolute joy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
