King Aegon II Targaryen is a complex figure in House of the Dragon and no one knows that better than Tom Glynn-Carney, the 29-year-old actor who plays him.
While we saw flashes of that in his season one debut, the first two episodes of the show’s second run find the young monarch all over the place.
Warning: this article contains spoilers
Overwhelmed by his newfound leadership position after usurping his sister, Aegon II has shown kindness to the townsfolk and then immediately gone back on it. He’s mourned his dead child and then murdered innocents in response. He’s displayed cowardice towards his grandfather and then strength to cast him aside.
So how do you get into the head of a man whose mind is all over the place? Glynn-Carney uses music.
“I have an Aegon playlist that I like to put on, depending on what mood I’m in, and then once the wig and costume are on, I don’t see myself anymore,” Glynn Carney tells The National.
But what’s on that playlist? The National requests he takes out his phone to reveal some of the songs, to which Glynn-Carney happily obliges.
“First off, there’s Empress by Morningsiders,” says Glynn Carney, referring to a song by the New York-based folk-pop act’s 2019 album A Little Lift.
“Then, Shuffle by Bombay Bicycle Club,” he adds, referencing the first single from the English band’s 2011 album A Different Kind of Fix.
He then sums up the next songs in the list: “Every Eminem song you’ve ever heard.”
“We’ve also got Rachmaninoff,” says the actor. Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist and composer and one of the leading figures of early 20th-century classical music.
Glynn-Carney also lists Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols, Tame Impala and Talking Heads as his eclectic inspiration.
The diversity is part of the point, he says. “It’s all over the place.”
How they relate to Aegon II though, depends on the song.
“There’s not really a single theme,” he says. “Sometimes it’s lyrically driven. Sometimes it’s rhythmically driven. It’s whatever mood I need to be in – whatever I need to hype me up.”
There is, however, one song that stands above the rest. After mentioning that Bob Dylan is well-represented on the playlist, he mentions one specific recording of an early Dylan hit that is the best window into his interpretation of the character.
Glynn-Carney says: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan – but specifically the Montreal Forum live edition.”
The song, written in 1962 and originally released on the American folk singer’s 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, has themes of suffering and warfare, both of which fit the energy of this season of House of the Dragon, as tensions rise between the two feuding sides of the Targaryen family, known as the Blacks and the Greens.
But diving into the lyrics, the imagery immediately conjures the young Targaryen king. The song opens with lyrics that match the physical description of Aegon: “Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? And where have you been, my darling young one?”
As the song continues, the narrator of the song describes what they see, who they meet and where they go, all of which paint a bleak picture.
Many lines seem well suited to House of the Dragon and its predecessor Game of Thrones. Quotes such as: “I heard the sound of the thunder that roared out a warning,” conjure images of dragons in the clouds. The line: “And the executioner's face is always well-hidden,” matches the duplicitous and vengeful nature of Westeros.
And the song’s chorus, which matches its title, offers a grim reminder that even though things are bad, even worse things are yet to come.
In Glynn-Carney’s view, the character might subconsciously know things are about to get a lot worse, belying his outwardly jovial spirit. “At the season’s start, we’re seeing a more optimistic version of him. We're seeing someone who's not really allowing the gravity of what's about to happen to penetrate him in any way – at least visibly,” says Glynn-Carney.
Perhaps that's why Glynn-Carney specifies the 1975 live version recorded at the Montreal Forum and released on the 2002 album The Bootleg Series, Vol 5 Bob Dylan Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue. That version drops the sombre acoustic tone of the original for an upbeat rock song with a full-backing band.
Unlike his villainous brother Aemond, if the metaphorical rain is a-comin', Aegon is still ready to have a good time.
House of the Dragon airs weekly on OSN+ across the Middle East
