‘It’s a really dirty scene’: House of the Dragon director addresses Larys Strong’s foot fetish

‘It’s so invasive what he does,’ Clare Kilner said

House of the Dragon fans were left wincing at their television screens last night during a scene involving Alicent Hightower and Larys Strong.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

During the ninth episode of the Game of Thrones prequel, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) appears to reward Larys (Matthew Needham) for his information by removing her shoes and stockings and allowing him to pleasure himself over the sight of her bare feet.

The scene left viewers stunned, with fans saying the character’s foot fetish “wasn’t on” their House of the Dragon “bingo card”.

Appearing on Entertainment Weekly’s West of Westeros podcast, director Clare Kilner credited writer and executive producer Sara Hess with inventing Larys’s foot fetish.

“Her mind is incredible. I mean, she really wrote us a wonderful episode,” Kilner said. “But, yeah, that was an interesting scene actually. Funnily enough, you get the intimacy coordinators for all the nudity, but they don’t think about it for this.”

Larys Strong in ‘House of the Dragon’ (HBO)

She added: “It’s so invasive what he does. Looking at her feet and then having a w***. It’s so intrusive and invasive. It’s a really dirty scene.”

Elsewhere in the episode, fans called for the head of Ser Criston Cole after the knight got away with yet another heinous crime.

Find all the talking points from the latest episode here.

House of the Dragon continues airs on Sky Atlantic and Now on Mondays at 2am, before repeating at 9pm later that day.