Deepfakes aren’t always put to the most admirable uses, but they do have their entertainment value. If House of the Dragon stirred up fond memories of Game of Thrones, especially Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen, a new deepfake will add to the nostalgia.
Stryder HD, a YouTube channel prolific in creating film and TV deepfakes, published a House of the Dragon video at the end of August. It replaces Milly Alcock — who plays the young version of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen — with Clarke in scenes from episode 1 of the Game of Thrones prequel series. Check out the deepfake below.
The YouTube channel also published a more recent deepfake, inserting Clarke into episode 4. The quality appears even better.
Clarke played Daenerys, one of the last surviving members of House Targaryen, in Game of Thrones for eight seasons of the HBO show.
Set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, HBO’s House of the Dragon chronicles the turmoil within House Targaryen over whether a woman should ascend the throne.
Entering the mainstream in 2019, deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to make it look as if a person is doing or saying something they aren’t. Aside from entertainment purposes, deepfakes are increasingly being used in cyberattacks, according to a report released in August.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air on HBO on Sundays.
