‘House of the Dragon’s Gayle Rankin Teases Alys’ Ultimate Endgame After That “Weird and Freaky” Dinner Scene
In an interview with Collider ahead of "House of the Dragon" Season 3, Episode 7, actress Gayle Rankin discussed her character Alys Rivers and the ambiguous nature of her bond with Aemond Targaryen. The pair's connection began when Aemond collapsed at Alys's feet after killing Harrenhal's castellan, Simon Strong, and his sons, and has since deepened into something involving maternal undertones, apparent witchcraft, and a clutch of dragon eggs. This matters to fans because the show has increasingly leaned into supernatural elements around Harrenhal, and Alys's true motives remain one of the season's central mysteries, especially following Alicent Hyde's attempt to poison her own son.
Rankin addressed a widely discussed dinner scene in which Aemond reaches for both Alys's and Alicent's hands, revealing that the moment was improvised on set by co-star Ewan Mitchell rather than scripted. She also reflected on how much extrasensory awareness Alys might have of Aemond's disturbing visions of his mother, comparing it to a similar dream once experienced by Daemon Targaryen, and pushed back on the assumption that Alys is deliberately manipulating him. Rankin suggested the ambiguity itself is a deliberate commentary on how female characters are perceived, with the show's witchcraft elements serving as a metaphor for power.
- Gayle Rankin discusses Alys Rivers' murky motives in House of the Dragon.
- Dinner scene hand-holding moment was improvised by Ewan Mitchell, not scripted.
- Rankin questions if Alys truly manipulates or just senses Aemond's visions.
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Alys Rivers is a mysterious woman living at Harrenhal, an ancient and largely abandoned castle in the fantasy series House of the Dragon. She became entangled with Aemond Targaryen, a member of the ruling royal family, after he killed the castle's previous overseer and his sons. Since then their relationship has grown increasingly strange, mixing hints of a mother-like bond with suggestions that Alys practises witchcraft, all set against the backdrop of a hoard of dragon eggs kept at the castle.
The actress who plays Alys, Gayle Rankin, has been speaking to the entertainment outlet Collider about her character ahead of a new episode. She has been addressing fan speculation about what Alys truly wants and whether she is secretly controlling Aemond, including reaction to a tense dinner scene involving Aemond's mother, Alicent, who recently tried to poison him.
This matters to viewers because Alys and Harrenhal represent one of the show's central unresolved mysteries, tying together questions of power, manipulation and the supernatural that could shape where the story goes next.