Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka the Sea Snake, went through a lot in season three of House of the Dragon. Not long after losing his beloved wife in season two, he weathered a near-drowning during the Battle of the Gullet—the event that also saw his castle, High Tide, torched into ruins. Rhaenyra, the queen he’d sworn loyalty to, balked at legitimizing his sons, Alyn and Addam, leading to the sort of public argument that could put his life in peril. Then, after being kidnapped by the Hightowers, Corlys was relieved of one of his fingers.
So by the time the season three finale rolled around, it was a relief to see Corlys managed to escape the chaotic inferno at Tumbleton. And Steve Toussaint, the actor behind the fan-favorite character, is also happy he’ll be returning, something he made clear in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
“Who knows what tomorrow may bring,” he told THR. “But for now, I’m still employed. They can’t get rid of me that easy.”
The end of “The Treasons at Tumbleton” sees Corlys, who’s been freed from his Hightower imprisonment, seek out a dazed Daemon Targaryen amid the burning city and advise him it’s time to leave. Corlys and Daemon have long had a fraught relationship, and it escalated shortly before the battle when Corlys tried to help Gwayne Hightower negotiate a more peaceful outcome. Daemon accused Corlys of being a traitor for even suggesting anything other than outright Hightower slaughter, so he made Corlys his prisoner instead.
Where things stand between them in those smoky final moments, however, is unclear. The battle did not go the way anyone predicted, thanks to a certain rogue dragonrider, and it feels like Team Black will have to put aside their differences and become a united front again. Maybe.
“I think Daemon realizes they’re not going to win [at Tumbleton],” Toussaint said. “So he starts looking for fights because I think he wants to go down fighting. He’s just looking to fight until somebody chops him down. It’s a death wish, I believe. Corlys saves him from himself. He sees in Daemon someone who is formidable, someone who is worthy, and someone who is a vital instrument for the queen’s cause. I think that’s what Corlys is thinking when he saves Daemon. Their relationship has always been a bit up and down. Where will it go after they leave this scene? I’m not sure.”
Toussaint told THR that he has made a point of not reading George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, so he’s in the dark about what lies ahead for Corlys. However, he predicted that when the Sea Snake returns to King’s Landing in season four, the personal differences that cropped up in season three will need to take a back seat to the more pressing concerns of the realm’s survival.
“I feel like he comes back and is like, ‘Let’s put that shit behind us or let’s deal with that later. Right now we have a war to win, and that’s more important than anything else.’”
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