Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 8 Ahead

House of the Dragon delivered an emotionally packed episode during the eighth entry in the first season. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is at his weakest, barely able to get out of bed and walk on his own. Meanwhile, the tension between the Hightowers and Alicent's children and the Targaryens and Rhaenyra's kids grows ever larger.

In one particular scene, Viserys enters the throne room, slowly making his way to the Iron Throne, which he presumably has not sat on in months, or years. He stumbles along the way, with his crown falling to the floor. His brother, Daemon (Matt Smith), once sought the power Viserys had. However, he helps his brother to the throne, returning the crown to his head. This was one of the most emotional scenes in the series so far, and as it turns out, it was completely improvised.

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During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Greeta Patel and star Matt Smith discussed the scene and how it made its way into the final cut. "When we were shooting that — I think the rehearsal again, the first day — the crown fell off of Paddy's head and Matt picked it up and we just kept going," Patel explains. "We didn't stop [filming]. There was a discovery there of this moment."

The Crew Chose The Improvised Moment Over Another Cut Scene

Daemon House of the Dragon
HBO

The dinner between Viserys and the rest of his family is a tension-filled scene, only eased by Considine's performance. While Viserys is there, the family continuously makes several toasts to each other, although some may not be as sincere as others. Initially, Daemon intended to make a toast to his brother, though it was cut for time to include the improvised crown scene.

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"I was so thankful that accident happened," Matt Smith says. "That the crown fell off because it proved to be, at least for me, quite a heavy moment and quite a turning point for a storyline that had started in the pilot: Hey, I want your crown and by the end here I'm gonna put the crown back on your head and I'm gonna help you to your throne."

Unfortunately, the camaraderie between the brothers was short-lived. In the last scene of the episode, Viserys takes his final breaths, incidentally telling his wife Alicent the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, which will undoubtedly lead to detrimental consequences down the road. House of the Dragon has two episodes left this season, premiering on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 pm E.T.