'House of the Dragon' star Emma D'Arcy says Daemon-Rhaenyra relationship is a 'grooming scenario'

• "House of the Dragon" star Emma D'Arcy said Rhaenyra and Daemon's romance is a "grooming scenario."
• In episode four, Daemon, who is in his early 30s, tries to have sex with his 18-year-old niece.

"House of the Dragon" star Emma D'Arcy has spoken out about the "grooming" relationship between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her uncle Daemon.

Throughout the series, Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) has a sexually-charged relationship with her uncle (Matt Smith) which almost results in the pair having sex in episode four. At the time, Rhaenyra was 18 while Daemon is in his early 30s.

D'Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra after a ten-year time jump in episode six, told the Independent that the problem with their relationship was more to do with their age gap rather than their blood relation.

"This is essentially a grooming scenario," the 30-year-old actor said. "The idea that a teenage girl is in any way able to consent to that sexual interaction is a mess. There is no way that power can be equally distributed in that relationship."

This is also not the first time there has been an incestuous relationship in "Game of Thrones."

D'Arcy added: "This isn't something I know a lot about, but I do know that something very electric and erotic can happen between people who share genetic material and don't grow up together. That's always exciting and dangerous, especially when one is young. He offers Rhaenyra new horizons, and I don't know about you, but I find that a deeply attractive quality in a person."

In episode four, Daemon takes Rhaenyra to a brothel, and they proceed to make out until Daemon pulls away and ditches the young princess. While some fans have suggested that the pair did actually have sex in the scene, D'Arcy said that they thought Daemon "couldn't follow through."

"It's very much open to interpretation, but I think impotence is a big theme with Daemon, so that's my read on it," the actor told the Independent.

Earlier this month, Alcock, 22, told the New York Post that she was "quite comfortable" filming the scene with Smith, 39.

She added: "Clare Kilner, our director, made sure that we hadn't seen any of the brothel stuff until we were shooting. So, that was our first time walking through the brothel, and he's guiding her through the room with all of these other bodies. So, that was quite shocking. You're like, 'This is kind of weird and silly.' There were extras who we had just met who were like, 69-ing for 12 hours. It's pretty gnarly. We felt pretty overdressed because everyone else was nude."

New episodes of "House of the Dragon" air Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.