The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 6, "The Princess and the Queen," now streaming on HBO Max.

House of the Dragon co-showrunner Ryan Condal recently explained the fiery change the Game of Thrones spinoff made to Laena Velaryon's death.

Condal discussed why he and co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik decided to have Laena burned alive by her own dragon rather than die during childbirth (as she does in Fire & Blood) in an interview with Variety. "Laena's a valkyrie. She's a dragon rider," he said. "We met that little girl back in Episode 2; that little girl went on a couple [of] years later to claim the biggest dragon in the world. It felt like she wouldn't want to go out the way that the history book said. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the season and the storytelling, we didn't get to spend as much time as I think we would have preferred to with Laena. We had to keep the story moving. So we wanted to give her a memorable out that felt active and in her character. Even though we’re only with Nanna Blondell's portrayal of her for a very brief time, within that moment, it tells you a lot about who Laena is and was."

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Condal's comments allude to the sweeping scope of House of the Dragon's narrative, which (unlike its predecessor) jumps forward months and even years between episodes. Because of this, Laena is one of several characters portrayed by more than one actor over the course of the first season, with Nanna Blondell stepping into a role previously brought to life by younger performers Nova Foueillis-Mose and Savannah Steyn. In a previous interview, Condal noted that HBO's willingness to green light a series that covers such a vast period of time is what made the network the best fit for House of the Dragon.

House of the Dragon's Younger Stars Exit the Series

Laena wasn't the only major part filled by another actor in House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 6, "The Princess and the Queen," either. Notably, stars Milly Alcock and Emily Carey were replaced by Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower, respectively. Condal has since confirmed that there are currently no plans for Alcock and Carey to reprise their roles in future episodes of the show, although he stopped short of definitively ruling out the possibility of their return.

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This tracks with earlier comments by Carey, who confirmed that she'd been involved in conversations about a potential House of the Dragon comeback yet was nevertheless unsure if it will actually happen.

New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

Source: Variety