House of the Dragon: Episode Two

or, slay queen

There’s an intro! Depressingly, it’s the Game of Thrones theme.

This is bad and dumb. But also not that big of a deal. I’m one of those freaks who will skip the theme song to almost everything.

If you want to catch up with me:

• Episode One

Where Episode One wanted desperately to remind us of Game of Thrones, everything in Episode Two after the theme song is stepping past the butts and boobs style of storytelling that Game of Thrones was initially known for.

Gradually, the salaciousness fell away—though never fully gone—to make more space for the reason we all stayed with Game of Thrones: Intrigue!

House of the Dragon seems ready to rush straight to the good stuff. There will likely still be butts and boobs scattered throughout the series as it continues, but the show and audience are prepared for the characterization, the plotting, the conniving, the backstabs, and on and on, to take center stage.

Incidentally, while rereading A Dance of Dragons this week, I came across a spoiler for this show. Though I imagine that spoiler is coming in season two or three. And, man, it’s a good one. Not Red Wedding good, but it’s going to make some moan, some scream, and some of us cackle.

Anyway, House of the Dragon is ready for primetime in this second episode. And it gets good.

So let’s talk about Rhaenyra.

I’ve written a few times about how people don’t know how to write strong women and how most writer’s version of a strong woman is to make her do things that are socially coded as masculine. For all its faults and excluding its last 1.5 seasons, Game of Thrones was pretty dang good at showing strong women exhibiting strength in a variety of ways, including ones socially coded as feminine. I’m hopeful that House of the Dragon will get us there as well.

It’s off to a decent enough start, I’d say. Rhaenyra is very much in the style of Daenerys. Feminine and powerful, cunning yet likeable. Daenerys forged an empire through blood and fire and clever decisions when she had nothing but three dragons and a caravan of women and children. Always she wore her femininity proudly, which was a big contrast to Arya Stark or Brienne of Tarth.

While Rhaenyra’s father, Viserys, still does not trust her, despite naming her heir and having the seven kingdoms bow to her, Rhaenyra trusts herself. Rather than be cowed by the men lording over her, making flustered decisions that seem designed for disaster, Rhaenyra takes the simple, straightforward, and levelheaded approach to deal with Damon, her uncle.

While Viserys’ gamble in making Rhaenyra his heir over Damon relies on the belief that Damon will not wage a war against his own niece, Viserys does not believe that Rhaenrya could or should be an active agent in this politicking.

But Viserys is not a clever king. A good man. A wise man, even, in his own manner. But one not made for a tumultuous time.

And so the scene on the bridge of Dragonstone full of primary characters and seemingly important secondary characters - we wait for blood and violence. Not fully believing it’ll happen so soon to such important characters, but, I mean, this is Westeros, so we’d be foolish not to kinda sorta expect a few proud heads to end up on spikes sooner than seems possible. And this tension, the knowing that a story shouldn’t do this while also knowing that this series is known for doing exactly this, rattles around inside you until you’re ready to burst.

And then, riding a golden dragon, she emerges from the clouds and settles the matter the way we’d have expected Daenerys to. The threat of a dragon while also making Damon seem a coward for backing down from his niece. It’s a gamble, yes, to put her life on the line before a man who demands the throne, but she’s playing her father’s gamble to its ultimate conclusion.

If he wants the throne, kill her now and be done with all the sedition and mockery. Otherwise, end it all.

It’s a great moment, really. Rhaenyra demonstrates in a single scene why she should be queen and why people should accept her as queen. The kingdom is ruled by men who have grown accustomed to peace and prosperity. The continent is full of knights who have never been to war, by rulers who have never faced war. They jockey for position and sell their daughters and sons to different families in order to raise their own profile, but they’ve never had to know the toll of blood.

Rhaenyra, though, seems to have a clarity through the political muckiness of the time. This war burbling at their border and Damon’s provocations have simple solutions and Rhaenyra is ready and willing to dive into them.

But Viserys is not. Kind and good, he will not marry a child. Even though it’s the obvious and correct decision to solidify his line and the future of the realm and the Targaryen dynasty. Foolishly, he marries for love, even though he knows it will hurt his daughter for her best friend to become her mother. Especially without warning.

In some ways, this mirrors Robb Stark’s decision that led to the Red Wedding. The seeds to the civil war have already been planted, but this decision waters them, ensures they’ll blossom disastrously. By choosing Alicent Hightower, he spurns the other old Valyrian house, the richest and most powerful family in the realm, who also command the fleet of the Seven Kingdoms. Too, the child he does not choose is the daughter of The Queen Who Was Not, Rhaenys Targaryen, who nearly became queen instead of him.

Now that I’ve mentioned her - the scene between Rhaenys and Rhaenyra is pretty solid. It’s not perfect and neither actress has the on screen presence to dominate and claim this scene, but the thesis of the entire series seems to be laid down pretty clearly right here.

No one wants you and everyone knows it.

And this will lead to disaster. It already seems headed there, as we see her husband, Corlys, make plans with Damon to clear this crabman and his raiders out of the narrow sea.

It is a plan to claim the right of kingship. If not through politics, then through war. If Damon can win his war, his claim as heir becomes stronger, even if he’s been disinherited.

Now, we’re only two episodes in so it’s difficult to know how this will all play out, but the seeds are all here for quite a lot of turbulence. The best kind of turbulence, too.

And at the center of it all is the most unwilling. King Viserys, who will always make the choice that seems best, but which is almost always the wrong one.

The choice of bride is a good example of this. We’re with Viserys here. We don’t want him to marry a child because, um, we would not want to marry a child. Even if it’s the right political move! It feels wrong because, really, it is wrong. And yet, by not choosing his cousin’s pre-teen daughter, he slashes a rift in the Seven Kingdoms that will not easily be mended.

So too with Rhaenyra. She is the wrong person to be made heir for all the same reasons that Rhaenys was rejected by the realm who raised Viserys up. The people want Damon and would stand behind him, even if he is actually the worst possible person to become king.

We get to see how Rhaenyra deserves this and we understand how she’ll navigate the politics of court. We’re on Viserys’ side with this decision.

But it, too, will split the realm.

And these two decisions happening so closely together spell disaster for Westeros. It’s a clever way to begin. This slow and gradual way that they’re leading us to the inevitable civil war.

I don’t know about you, but this is what I hoped for. This complex web of relationships and choices that cannot really be navigated from the inside. Every choice carries uncountable consequences, and yet you must choose and suffer those consequences.

But, yeah, I dig it. Excited to see where it goes.