Emma D’Arcy may be the face of Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon right now, but when fans first met the character, the "Realm’s Delight" was played by a younger Milly Alcock.
Alock has since moved on to get cast in 2025’s Superman as the Man of Steel’s cousin Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl, but she has somehow found a way to also have a cameo in the latest episode of HOTD, title The Burning Mill. As it turns out, her cameo was kept very secret, but it was apparently easy to pull off.
Young Rhaenyra Briefly Returned to House of the Dragon
Young Rhaenyra appears in one of Daemon Targaryen's visions while he's staying at the broken down castle Harrenhal. Daemon exits his room looking for someone who he thought was just outside his door, and walks into a room with a hearth, where he finds a younger version of Rhaenyra sewing baby Jaehaerys' head back on after the boy was killed at Daemon's orders in the season premiere.
Fans can read the scene multiple ways. For example, Daemon doesn’t see Rhaenyra as his equal, but as the young girl he once seduced; but it can also be read as Rhaenyra always having to clean up Daemon’s messes, and Daemon finally acknowledging that.
The biggest takeaway is that it seems Daemon does have remorse for having the boy killed, and it looks like he’ll have to delve into his emotions for the rest of his stay in the supposedly haunted Harrenhal.
The dream sequence ends with Daemon waking up in front of a weirwood tree (the same kind of tree Ned Stark prays to in Game of Thrones), and it’s hinted that he’s going to start a relationship with Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), a wet nurse in Harrenhal who has earned the reputation of Witch Queen.
How Alcock’s Cameo Was Kept Secret
Alock’s cameo in the season was kept as a huge secret, but it was apparently easy to pull off because the showrunners decided to film it very early into the production.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, show creator Ryan Condal said:
"It was very easy in terms of will… We were excited about the prospect. Milly was eager to come back and everybody was excited to have her back.
"She's very busy, so it was a tricky thing to navigate around the schedule, but we essentially had her in for a couple of days right at the start of production… I think one of our greatest feats was keeping that a secret all the way through, given the fact that it happened right at the beginning."
Given they only had Alock for a few days, it’s possible that she could have shot some other dream sequences for the series; but it wouldn’t be surprising if this was her only appearance for the season.
With Rivers just getting introduced, it’s possible that she could have more visions to show Daemon as the season progresses.
Catch House of the Dragon Season 2 now streaming on Max.