House of the Dragon star reveals how that Aemond, Alicent and Alys incest scene was filmed

In the Game of Thrones universe, incest and wild sex scenes are a regular occurrence, but House of the Dragon season three, episode seven might have delivered its most uncomfortable one yet.

In the episode, it seems Aemond Targaryen is actually sleeping with his own mother, Alicent. Thankfully, that’s not what’s really happening. It’s soon revealed that Aemond is actually having sex with Alys Rivers while hallucinating Alicent, thanks to his growing obsession with his mother.

The scene left loads of viewers wondering how on earth did they actually film something like that?

Well, Gayle Rankin, who plays Alys Rivers, has now explained exactly what it was like behind the scenes, and it sounds a lot less awkward than you’d expect.

It was ‘very intimate and very odd’

Speaking to Variety, Rankin admitted filming the sequence wasn’t exactly an ordinary day at work.

She said, “It was very intimate and very odd but very professional.”

Even though the scene is incredibly uncomfortable to watch, Rankin explained, “We tried to like make jokes, just to keep it lighthearted because those scenes are not easy and they’re complicated and very technical.”

She even joked, “It was also just like it was another day at the office for being like a very odd, fucked-up scene.”

Although the opening makes it seem as though Alicent and Aemond are together, the scene quickly reveals that everything is happening in Aemond’s mind while he sleeps with Alys.

Later in the episode, Alys even calls out Aemond’s obsession with his mother, telling him, “All you Targaryen boys want the same thing.”

Rankin explained that Alys isn’t really surprised by any of it because she understands people better than almost anyone. She said, “I think she sees everything. I don’t think she sees everything, but she can see a lot. So there is a prophetic nature to who she is, and so she’s just like, ‘Wow! So we have to go through this? OK, here we go.'”

Basically, Alys recognises exactly what’s happening in Aemond’s head long before he does.

The awkward family dinner was even worse

alicent having dinner with aemond and alys 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/nz9BXKw5DW

— 💭 (@thinkercooke) August 3, 2026

If you thought the sex scene was uncomfortable, Rankin revealed that the family dinner that follows was just as painful. During the episode, Alys, Aemond and the real Alicent all sit down together in one of the most tense scenes House of the Dragon has ever done.

Asked what filming that dinner was like, Rankin laughed, “Oh, terrible! I mean awful, but I kind of loved it.”

She explained, “I think Alys is in her element but also kind of terrified at the same time. I think she intentionally wants it to feel unbearable. You know, because she wants her to go.”

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Featured images credit: HBO