As the curtains drew open at the Leicester Square Odeon, the unsuspecting guests were in for a shock. Harry Collett's character, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, met his maker in a gruesome and dramatic fashion, sending ripples of tension through the packed premiere audience. The actor himself played it cool, but we can't blame him for grinning from ear to ear - after all, he'd kept the plot twist under wraps until the big reveal.
The scene that left onlookers gasping was a doozy: Jacaerys getting knocked into the sea and battling his dragon Vermax before succumbing to four arrows in quick succession. Collett, now 22, laughed it off in an interview later, saying he'd deliberately kept mum about the shocking twist until everyone watched it unfold together at the premiere. His parents were visibly shaken - 'oh!' from his mum and a stunned expression from his dad - but Collett was loving every minute of it.
Filming that intense underwater sequence was no cakewalk, folks. It took two whole days, from 8am to 7pm at Warner Bros' Leavesden Studios in 2025, with Collett strapped to a motorised saddle, repeatedly dunked into a massive tank of icy water to simulate drowning. To make it look even more convincing, he had to be clipped to the saddle to ensure he went fully underwater each time - and let's just say it wasn't exactly pleasant for him.
But the real drama came when Collett emerged from the water, his hands turning a lovely shade of blue due to hypothermia. Cue medic alert! Fortunately, it was just coloured dye leaching from Jacaerys' riding gloves - not a sign of a serious medical issue, thankfully. Collett admitted to having a mini-heart attack himself, recalling how skin discolouration often spells the end in dramatic fashion.
Collett's journey into acting began young, driven by a passion for performing that's taken him from Essex to the bright lights of the screen. He started out playing Michael Bublé as a nipper and even landed a role in a Christmas music video aged 10! Despite his teen years being filled with film and TV gigs (and not-so-great GCSE drama grades), Collett still managed to poke fun at himself, recently taking his former teacher to task over that embarrassing mark.
The sudden demise of such a key character just goes to show how committed the House Of The Dragon team is to delivering that trademark Game Of Thrones ruthlessness. With power struggles intensifying in Westeros, viewers will be on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next dramatic twist.