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Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season two, episode six of "House of the Dragon."
"House of the Dragon" may have confirmed that Rhaenyra Targaryen probably isn't straight, but one of the series' stars said the moment wasn't part of the original script.
In the final moments of episode six, Rhaenyra (Emma D'arcy) and her close advisor, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), share a tender hug and kiss after Mysaria opens up about her traumatic childhood.
The kiss is interrupted by a guard walking into the room, but fans are already obsessing over the brief moment on social media.
Rhaenyra is not queer in the series' source material, the book "Fire and Blood." Still, in the first few episodes of season one, teenage Rhaenyra (Millie Alcock) has a very close relationship with her best friend Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey).
This led fans to speculate that Rhaenyra and Alicent may be attracted to each other, and Alcock and Carey told The New York Times in 2022 that they thought the friendship was homoerotic.
Fans may being wondering if the show's writers added the same-sex kiss to keep them happy, hoping it would boost the series' popularity after their suspicions were finally confirmed.
However, according to Mizuno, the kiss was an organic decision made by the actors.
Mizuno told Vulture ahead of Sunday's episode: "It was scripted as an intimate moment that got interrupted, and it was unknown where the scene was going to go. Emma and I both strongly felt that we didn't want it to be queer-baity in any way, and we wanted to step back, look at it, and take care of it.
"But it just felt right. It would be a kiss."
Ollie Upton/HBO
Mizuno said D'arcy decided to add the hug to the scene. According to Mizuno, D'arcy thought the characters were standing too far apart, and Rhaenyra would want to hold Mysaria after hearing her "vulnerable story."
"The hug was so arresting because we realized that people don't really hug in this show. They don't hug in this kind of way. It was such a gorgeous hug, and the kiss came so organically from that," Mizuno said. "It was very vulnerable and very tender, and then it was really nice. And then you stop thinking, and it gets really passionate."
Mizuno added later that she thought Mysaria was always attracted to Rhaenyra but didn't realize it until the intimate moment.
D'arcy told Variety ahead of Sunday's episode that the kiss was spontaneous for Rhaenyra, too.
"They are two bodies completely overrun by touch. As soon as they embrace and their bodies are touching, I think it's pure bodily desire," they said.
"House of the Dragon" season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.
