It was important to me to make that scene idyllic, because it’s so completely against the accepted mythology about what that was, that Lyanna was kidnapped. The new information here is that this was really a relationship in which they were in love with each other. And they were married, but that’s been hidden from the history, until now. We were really hoping to have a nice sunny day in Belfast, which is rare at that time of year, but we did have one. That was the main thing, in terms of the performances and how it was shot, that it be romantic without being overly romantic.

When Jon and Dany hook up, we know it’s incest, but they don’t. So why does Tyrion look troubled? Why the reaction shot from him?

From my point of view, Tyrion always seemed three steps ahead. As long as there is a professional alliance between Dany and Jon, that’s something that everybody wants. We can imagine that that’s a helpful alliance. But when things get personal, then people make decisions based on their emotions, and that can complicate matters going forward, so I think he sees the potential here for things to get very messy. Usually, historically, nothing good comes out of relationships becoming more complicated! [Laughs] It’s also a question of what’s going to be his role within this new alliance, right? So there’s a kind of caution here.

Some folks suspect he might be jealous, too.

Well, there is something to that. Everyone seems to be in love with Dany, in a way, and I think Tyrion’s a little bit in love with her. But I don’t think it’s an actual romantic love. There’s a huge respect for her, and maybe there’s a slight romantic element to that, but it’s more of a jockeying in terms of who has real power. Not over Dany, but who has power in a relationship with Dany. Jorah, who really is in love with her, his relationship with Jon is complicated in a different way. With Tyrion, it’s all about who is going to have sway over her?