Reposted by aelfwynn
the fact that this scene has such big emotional impact for both of them. they both look at each other w the teary eyes. aemond was panicking bc now their lives are in danger but is denied w help by the person he is most close to and face the truth about his tragic end. #helaemond
![The Daily Beast: Aemond is one of this series’ most unpredictable characters, and we never really see him show emotion. When he’s speaking with Helaena (Phia Saban) about the war, it looks like he's about to shed tears. Was that in the script? Do you think his actions are finally weighing on him?
Geeta Patal (director of episode 8): The great thing about House of the Dragon is that Ryan Condal believes in skipping exposition. He doesn’t try to put actors’ feelings into the writing. And Sara Hess is an incredible writer, so the two of them were the heart of this scene. They had told me that Aemond shuts everyone out and it’s a reaction to his childhood. When he sees Helaena she is the one person who stands out; she is the exception.
Helaena can say whatever she wants to him and it actually goes through his armor somehow [...] and gets to his heart. So, that direction is not on the page but just like every other scene I directed for Ryan and Sara, I knew that’s where my job comes in and where Ewan and Phia’s job comes in. The three of us got together before that scene and talked about it and they delivered. They are outstanding actors and I was also feeling incredibly surprised by how deeply it hit Ewan.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bxgv6sty6tfj5jc6zkgkbzqh/bafkreihg276rdo5i72pvrz6idyzn3t4zf6mjle6rsgjgjbkhz74ivah7ry)
