Summary

Sound designer used animals like seals, pigs, and babies for House of the Dragon dragons, enhancing their on-screen presence.
Paula Fairfield crafted sounds for key dragon scenes with a mix of animal recordings to capture emotion authentically.
Fairfield's unique approach to animal sounds underscores House of the Dragon's dragons' personalities and aids storytelling.

House of the Dragon's sound designer, Paula Fairfield, reveals the strange and bizarre line-up of sounds she used for the powerful yet majestic dragons in season 2 of the HBO series, giving fans a deeper insight into the magical creatures. Fairfield, who is best known for her work on Game of Thrones and LOST, has won copious awards over her long and interesting career, including 14 Emmy nominations: one for Rings of Power, another for House of the Dragon, and six for George R.R. Martin's long-running fantasy adaptation.

During Fairfield's fruitful span in sound design, she has accumulated an impressive host of directors that she has worked with, like the legendary James Cameron, Darren Aronofsky, The Whale's Robert Rodriguez, Carrie's Brian De Palma, The Reckoning's Paul McGuigan, and American Mary's The Soska Sisters. Of course, the dragons featured in House of the Dragon are crucial to the show's subtext and storytelling, so making sure every aspect of the beasts is conveyed as well as possible has always been key to the series to allow for a deeper visual and auditory experience. From using seals to crying babies, it's fair to say that Fairfield's keen ear has given the show's dragons a truly incredible on-screen presence that lasts within the minds of fans, staying with them even when the show ends.

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By Henry-Damian Justice

House of the Dragon’s Sound Designer Used Noises From Seals, Pigs, and Babies for Its Creatures

In a conversation with Variety, Paula Fairfield explains the complex vocal makeup of House of the Dragons' creatures and what outside-the-box methods she used to achieve a huge range of sounds for Dragons like Vhagar, Caraxes, and Syrax. Fairfield revealed that she took thousands of hours of recordings of animal sounds that included pigs, seals, and birds, and even infant noises to showcase Vhagar's grumpier side, which Fairfield felt were appropriate given her descriptors are “tired, cranky and IBS.”

“Occasionally, I will use a human voice, but I really love using animals from our Earth because their expressions are pure emotion. There’s no acting, no agenda, no trying to be something they aren’t — and babies are like that too.”

Fairfield also explained how she used pigs and bird sounds for Meleys' death in that dreaded scene in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4, titled 'A Dance of Dragons', in which Rhaenys Targaryen is killed during the Battle of Rook's Rest, specifically in a dragon-on-dragon fight with her dragon against Aemond's, Vhagar. "Stuff that’s in the higher range that can be twisted and manipulated and has enough articulations that I can use,” stated Fairfield.

In House of the Dragon season 2’s episode titled “The Red Sowing,” when Queen Rhaenyra is on a mission to find riders for unclaimed dragons, Rhaenyra can be seen sharing a moment with Vermithor where he lets out a soothing, affectionate humming sound, something he will later repeat when he takes Hugh Hammer as his new rider “That’s his tell,” Fairfield says. The return to Westeros couldn't be greater in season 3, as fans know that The Battle of the Gullet is fast approaching, which has already been confirmed by showrunner Ryan Condal, as well as some leaked set photos that showcase the returning season will commence with its bloodiest and most important naval war yet.

A release date for the third season of House of the Dragon hasn't yet been announced, but it's likely fans won't see new episodes until the summer of 2026.