As House of the Dragon season three came to a close, the current occupant of the Iron Throne made yet another attempt to convince everyoneâincluding herselfâthat she’s the rightful ruler of Westeros. Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy, was her father’s chosen heir, something she believes was destined by the gods and has therefore made the Dance of the Dragons something of a divine fight. In “The Treasons at Tumbleton,” Rhaenyra sets out to bring the Faith of the Seven, which hasn’t supported her reign so far, into line.

If the queen can’t have a traditional coronation, she’ll get her public anointing by any means necessary. The High Septon refused to do it earlier in season three; he’s not convinced that Rhaenyra’s predecessor, Aegon, is actually dead. (He’s right, of course, and we’ll surely be seeing more about that storyline in season four.) But in “The Treasons at Tumbleton,” Rhaenyra and her soldiers march into the Great Sept and demand that he perform the ceremony. When he refuses, Alyn (Abubakar Salim) promptly kills the religious leader.

So the “anointing” turns into something else: Rhaenyra stepping outside and telling the smallfolk about the Song of Ice and Fire, which she believes is powerful evidence that she’s the rightful queen. Whether or not they believe her is yet to be seen, but she certainly dressed the part for her big moment.

In an HBO press conference tied to the House of the Dragon season finale, attended by io9 and other press, D’Arcy talked about their character’s makeover in the episode, including a chainmail hood and subtle but impactful eye makeup.

“I think this is the first time that we’ve seen Rhaenyra actively thinking about kind of image-making, and obviously we know that a big part of the fascist machine is about iconography, and for me at least, it felt like the first time that she asked the question, âWhat should the leader look like?â,” D’Arcy explained.Â

“And it bookends a sort of longer journey that takes place over the season ⦠I think she begins … still trying to carve out this space for herself as a ruling queen. That problem, her womanhood, has been a perpetual obstacle in her campaign, and I think in episode one [of season three] actually, when she finds herself locked in and prevented from action, she attempts to sort of kill that obstacle and instead takes up the mantle of king, believing, I think, that there is no option if one is to be broadly accepted,” D’Arcy continued.

The ensemble came together thanks to the talents of House of the Dragon‘s creative team. “Obviously, [costume designer] Caroline McCall and [costume armor supervisor] Simon Brindle did an amazing job. It takes a long timeâthere’s fittings and fittings and fittings. There’s this amazing hood made of chainmail, but it has to fit me and it has to work, and all of that is a process,” they said.

And what about Rhaenyra’s eyes, with those slashes and dabs of shadow? “With [makeup designer] Amanda Knight, we had a conversation about wanting to do something with the makeup to make sure that it met the size of the costume image. But again, wanting to make whatever that was was kind of deriving from a more masculine visual source. So something that feels more like war paint, say, than something kind of more aesthetic.”

You can watch House of the Dragon seasons one through three on HBO; a fourth and final season is on the way.

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