House of the Dragon star reveals surprise at character survival in season 2 finale

As well as featuring a pretty major Game of Thrones twist, the episode also saw the Greens and the Blacks finally prepare for all-out war.

Based on George RR Martin's novel Fire and Blood, there were plenty of book fans who were eagerly waiting to see whether or not the final episode would stick true to the novel.

In the book, Prince Jace Velaryon (Harry Collett) leads the dragonseeds on Team Black against the Greens in what is known as the Battle of the Gullet.

Unfortunately, Jace dies in the process in the novel, which would have meant - had it played out as such in the series - it would have been yet another season ending with Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) losing a son.

The House of the Dragon season 2 finale didn't include the battle or Jace's death, and it turns out that the omission even surprised the actor.

Reflecting on his character's not-quite brush with death, Collett told Variety: "I did think this would be it for me and Jace.

"And it’s always that awkward moment of going to the script reading going, 'Oh, I don’t know if this is the time, and am I gonna have to do this in front of everyone?'

"But it got to the point where we read the last episode in the script read, and it was just a surprise. I went up to Ryan [Condal], and I was like, 'Dude, I thought this was it? I thought I was gonna die!'"

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He continued: "I said to Ryan, 'I thought this was my time.' And he said, 'Mate, I would have called you!' You get something called 'the death call', so you don’t have to do it at the script read in front of everybody, which I think is very nice."

Collett added: "So I was just stressing for no reason, but I’m so thankful that I’ve got to last a whole other season. And if I die, I die — I’m thankful to be in it anyway."

But has Collett gotten the feared 'death call' for season 3? Keeping his cards close to his chest, he told Variety: "We’ll have to wait and see for that, won’t we? The death call stays between me and me only — if and when I get it."

Instead, the finale saw Jace, his mother and Baela Targaryen (Bethany Antonia) prepare the new dragonriders to take on the Greens. The last we see of them is preparing for war – so it's safe to say there's plenty to look forward to in season 3.

As for whether or not that also involves Jace's death, we'll simply have to wait and see.

House of the Dragon season 2 airs on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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