Milly Alcock has been a major highlight of the first five episodes of House of the Dragon, but the 22-year-old actress' time in the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen came to an end at the conclusion of Sunday's episode, "We Light The Way."
The next instalment will begin after a 10-year time-jump, with Emma D'Arcy taking over as the conflicted princess and Olivia Cooke stepping into the role of the older Queen Alicent Hightower.
Now, Alcock has taken to Instagram to bid farewell to the show, her character and her fans by sharing a batch of fun behind-the-scenes photos from her time filming the Game of Thrones prequel series.
The fact that Alcock and Emily Carey are being replaced by (slightly) older actresses has come in for some backlash, especially as it would have very easy to age them up accordingly. To be fair, HBO did a great job of making D'Arcy and Cooke look as much like their younger counterparts as possible, but it does seem like a slightly unnecessary change.
Nevertheless, we're sure Cooke and D'Arcy will do a great job.
"The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires—real and imagined—crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins almost 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm."
House of the Dragon stars Paddy Considine (Peaky Blinders) as King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One) as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy (Wanderlust) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Prince Daemon Targaryen. The show is set to premiere on August 21.