House of the Dragon : How That 'Intrusive and Invasive' Foot Fetish Scene Came to Be

Ollie Upton/HBO

Sunday night's penultimate episode of HBO's House of the Dragon was filled with moments that had fans talking online — but few were as surprising as the awkward and intimate one between Ser Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) and Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).

On Entertainment Weekly's West of Westeros podcast, Clare Kilner, who directed the episode (titled "The Green Council"), shared some insight into how the scene came to be and her feelings on the moment.

In the scene, Larys — who has the literal nickname Clubfoot because he walks with a limp due to a foot that was twisted at birth — makes one of his shady visits to the Queen to share some secrets in exchange for favors. And we learn what one of those favors is as Alicent slowly peels off her stockings and places her bare feet on the table.

Once Larys shares more details, the royal rests her feet on a chair and looks away.

"[He's] looking at her feet and then having a wank, basically," as Kilner eloquently describes it.

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Ollie Upton/HBO

Kilner said the moment was the brainchild of Sara Hess, an executive producer on the series and writer on the episode.

"Funnily enough, you get the intimacy coordinators [for] all the nudity, but they don't think about it for this," she said.

Upon reflection, Kilner added of the moment, "It's so intrusive and invasive. It's a really dirty scene."

The director praised Hess for her work on the episode, which set up what is sure to be an intense and bloody season finale for the hit HBO series. "Her mind is incredible," she said of Hess. "I mean, she really wrote us a wonderful episode, I have to say."

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The season finale of House of the Dragon airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.