Steve Toussaint, House of the Dragon
Theo Whiteman/HBOThe Dance of the Dragons is causing fiery chaos in the Seven Kingdoms, but one of its fiercest warriors may be having a crisis of conscience.
In the Season 3 finale of HBO’s House of the Dragon, Lord Corlys (Steve Toussaint) found himself to be a bargaining chip in the effort to avoid a battle at Tumbleton. It failed, simply because everyone in Westeros knows that Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) doesn’t negotiate. But what Corlys said when he was put between two armies is key, according to Toussaint himself. After he was kidnapped last week by an increasingly ambitious Ormund Hightower (James Norton), Corlys is brought, by Daeron (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Ser Gwayne (Freddie Fox), to Daemon as a peace offering to stave off Ormund’s bloodlust. But Daemon doesn’t take kindly to the idea that he and his dragon Caraxes should accept anything but total annihilation from the Hightowers.
Chained and powerless, Corlys levels with Daemon to consider what an attack would cost, a reasoning he might not have given at the start of the series or season, Toussaint tells TV Guide.
“That scene, with Daemon and Gwayne, where Corlys puts forward a possible plan for peace, I think, is a strong clue as to where his head is at,” he said. “This is a guy who is like, ‘What’s the point of pointless bloodshed?’ He even says to Daemon, ‘You have to decide what you want, whether it’s Rhaenyra on the throne or a mountain full of dead Hightowers.’ Of course, we know which way Daemon goes. But I think the mere positing of that question gives you an idea of where Corlys is headed.”
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This is a far cry from the man who has seen more battles than most of this cast combined, and was even the centerpiece of the Battle of the Gullet at the beginning of the season. But Toussaint said that Corlys can no longer deny the cost of war, even one to give Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) her rightful throne.
“I don’t think he has changed his commitment to Rhaenyra because he is all about doing what is right,” Toussaint said. “He still believes that she has a just cause and it is worth fighting for. However, in terms of his relationship to Rhaenyra and his attitude toward the war itself, I think that has changed. There’s been a growing awareness throughout this season of the futility of war for him. I don’t know who first coined it, but there is a saying that in war the only winner is war itself, and I think he is coming to that realization.”
Perhaps Corlys has simply given too much. Not only have his wife and two children died for the cause of Rhaenyra’s reign, but he stepped up to the King’s Hand only to be denied the one request he asked of his queen — to legitimize his two bastard sons, Alyn (Abubakar Salim) and Addam (Clinton Liberty). He all but abandoned his post at her side after this betrayal, and Toussaint is excited to see how that dynamic has shifted between the two allies.
“I think there is a real sense of fury, indignation, and a sense of betrayal in Corlys, which motors through a lot of this season,” he said. “I’m fascinated to see where they are when they see each other again.”
But awaiting Corlys back in King’s Landing is more than just a reckoning with his queen. There’s also the matter of his son, Alyn, who now stands as yet another example of the steep price Corlys’ family has paid for his allegiance to Rhaenyra’s claim. At her request, Alyn cuts down the High Septon of the Faith for not anointing her the rightful queen in the finale, a deeply troubling sign of just how entrenched he has become in her cause.
Toussaint hasn’t seen any Season 4 scripts yet but imagines this is not what Corlys wanted for his son.
“I think he will be very sad and disappointed, but also mark that up as yet another cost to his family,” Toussaint said. “To execute a holy man, a representative of the Seven, I think that’s damning. But at the same time, you have to acknowledge that Alyn is a grown man. He’s pledged his allegiance to the queen. He’s come this far without Corlys’ guidance anyway. He knows how to make his own decisions. But if Corlys could have stopped that from happening, he would have.”
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Corlys did stop one thing from happening before the season cut to black. In the aftermath of the Battle of Tumbleton, which saw Ulf (Tom Bennett) defect to the Hightowers and scorch Daemon’s army with dragonfire, both sides are in ruins — along with the town. Daemon barely makes it out alive and stalks through the city looking for a fight. While he hasn’t spoken to Smith about his portrayal, Toussaint has an idea of what Daemon was doing as he slashes through what’s left of his big move.
“When I look at that scene, and certainly when I read it and then watched Matt play it, I’m convinced that Daemon is happy to die in that situation,” he said. “He gets up from that explosion, and he’s just looking around and seeing the devastation, and then he just goes looking for fights.”
Yet, despite having just been called a traitor and craven by Daemon, it’s Corlys who pulls him back from the edge of the moment. Given his new outlook on this war, it’s important that Corlys doesn’t just walk away from the remains of the day. He goes into the belly of it to find Daemon and bring him out the other side.
“Daemon is just there, fighting until he is chopped down, and I think Corlys recognizes that and decides that he’s much more useful to the realm alive with his skills and tactical acumen,” he said. “He saved Daemon from himself.”
In a way, Corlys ends the season and prepares for Season 4’s final episodes by becoming the level-headed one of the bunch.
“At various points, there have been different people who have taken on that mantle,” Toussaint said. “Certainly, there was a point when it was Rhaenys, then Rhaenyra, and even a point when it was Alicent. But at this point, it is Corlys. He’s the one that’s probably seen the most warfare in his life, so he has an idea of what it is going to cost everyone.”
House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on Max.