Speaking withInsider, Ryan Corr discussed his character onHouse of the Dragon. Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong was first introduced in episode three, when he, young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), and the rest of the royal court go to Kingswood for a hunt. Fast forward to episode six, where Harwin has become the lover of a now adult Rhaneyra (Emma D’Arcy) and has had three illegitimate children with her. And then he dies at the very end of the episode.
“We always knew Harwin had a limited time in the series,” said Corr, referring to himself and showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. “I spoke with Ryan and Miguel at the start about trying to create maximum impact. I remember Ryan speaking to me about the Red Viper, Pedro Pascal’s character in the first series and how he was only there for a limited time, but his resonance through the series lasted.”
Since George R.R. Martin’sFire & Blooddoesn’t provide many details concerning Harwin’s interior life or motives, Corr had to fill in “as much detail as possible” using body language and dialogue with Rhaenyra’s two actors. One such moment happens at the end of Harwin’s first episode, where he’s the only one who looks impressed that the princess killed a wild boar.
“Harwin being a hunter and a knight of the realm, I think coming back and seeing Rhaenyra having slaughtered a boar was rather impressive to him. I was still amazed at people’s reaction to him looking over a skinned rabbit at the woman. But hey, you can’t pick these things sometimes.”
Corr and Alcock are both Australian and have worked in the past together. In fact, they ran into each other at the airport on their way to rehearsals and spent time talking about the relationship between their characters. Corr repeatedly mentioned during the Insider interview was “twin flames,” which is the idea that the two of them are effectively each other’s half.
“Because we jumped time in the series, you have limited time to set the foundations for this love story and who they might have been to each other. We both had an idea that they were twin flames and that Harwin always had eyes for Rhaenyra for who she was.”
Being Twin Flames
Corr said that they wanted to have people champion that love story and Harwin’s love for his children. So he had ideas running in his head about how physical strength is one thing, Harwin’s a strong knight who’s called Breakbones for a reason, but Corr also thought that strength could manifest in a number of other ways.
“It occurred to me while reading the book that he’s a man who is happy to live in the shadows and just support Rhaenyra and be a loving father. I’ve always seen strength in my own father and in the way that he’s always been there for his children and those around me. So those ideas really appealed to me in trying to muck around with Harwin as we were exploring this stuff.”
In episode six, there’s a training session for the royal family overseen by Harwin and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). After Cole insinuates the open secret that Rhaneyra’s children were fathered by Harwin and not her husband, Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan), he gets beaten up in response. That public defensiveness gets Harwin sent back to Harrenhall for giving the rumors credit.
“We have this side of the father that’s obviously very doting over his children and happy to step back. And we need to see the other side to Harwin which is this very strong and potentially very violent man who has the ability to create destruction. We really wanted to tread that line of having both a man of honor that’s there for his family and based in love and has found a twin flame with Rhaenyra, but that also can be very dangerous and volatile.”
Another instance of Corr’s performance conveying something without dialogue is during Harwin’s final goodbye with Rhanenyra. They look at one another in a way that conveys to the audience that this is a painful but necessary departure to preserve some honor and protect their illegitimate children. Yet there’s an intimacy there that clues Rhaneyra’s son Jacerys (Leo Hart) in to how the rumors surrounding his parentage are true.
Corr’s time on the show officially ended when Harwin’s brother Larys (Matthew Needham) arranged for Harrenhall to be set on fire to court favor with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke). Corr said that while your ego goes ‘No!’ after experiencing such an early death, getting to be on aGame of Thronesproduction was one of the most exciting days of his career.
“I remember going into rehearsals with the writers pretty early on, and they were like, ‘Thank you so much for coming on and I’m so sorry we kill you.’ Them’s the breaks sometimes. I was always just so excited for the opportunity to be involved in this world. It was everything that I imagined it would be when I arrived there and moreso.”
