Spoilers ahead for the Season 3 premiere of House of the Dragon.
While folks are still debating the controversial series finale of Game of Thrones, audiences are invested in the spinoffs like House of the Dragon. Season 3 of that show just began for those with a HBO Max subscription, and the premiere was full of action and the death of Jacaerys Velaryon. Actor Harry Collett recently revealed a line he improvised on set, and I'm so glad he did.
House of the Dragon Season 3 started off with a bang with The Battle of the Gullet, which had action on the seas as well as in the air courtesy of HOTD's Dragons. While Jace perished, Collett revealed to TV Line that he actually improvised one of the most iconic lines in Westerosi history. Namely "Dracarys", which is used to prompt drgons to breathe fire. As he told the outlet:
It wasn't in the script either that I say dracarys. And it was me. And I was like 'I'm just going to say it. There's no way I can possibly leave the show without saying that word.' So I was like 'Yup, let's do it.' And they kept it in. And I think I say like twice or three times.
Since Harry Collett always knew that his character would die in The Battle of The Gullet, the 22 year-old actor knew that the Season 3 premiere was the final chance to call out "dracarys" on camera. That's exactly what he did, and he was delighted to see that it ended up in the final cut of the explosive premiere episode. That's why sometimes you have to take a chance on set.
During this same interview, Baela Targaryen actress Bethany Antonia asked if her co-star had permission to throw in that extra line, to which Collett said:
No, I just did it.
Sometimes its better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. And considering how much editing goes into editing sequences like The Battle of the Gullet, there was ample opportunity to cut Jace's "dracarys" if they wanted to. Luckily for Harry Collett, it made it into the theatrical cut.
Unfortunately Jacaerys' death means that we won't be able to see Collett utter that command to his dragon Vermax on screen again. We'll just have to wait and see if he ends up returning via a flashback or dream sequence.
House of the Dragon airs new episodes Sundays on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule.
