Rhaenys Targaryen’s Fate in ‘House of the Dragon’ ExploredRhaenys Targaryen’s Fate in ‘House of the Dragon’ Explored In a tragic twist of events, Rhaenys Targaryen met her demise in the Battle of Rook’s Rest in Episode 4 of “House of the Dragon.” Her sacrifice sparked questions about her motivations for returning to the fray despite facing almost certain death. Eve Best, the actress portraying Rhaenys, spoke about her character’s decision in an interview with Variety. She drew parallels to nuclear warfare, stating that Rhaenys felt the responsibility to prevent an even greater conflict. “She knows she has to sacrifice herself for the team,” Best explained. “Another journalist described her as Lancelot, Rhaenyra’s Lancelot, in many ways. I thought that was very fitting. There’s such a deep restraint… She’s standing up all the time, putting the personal aside, and rising above it.” Best emphasized Rhaenys’s realization that using dragons as weapons would have devastating consequences. “The point is ultimately, no matter what we feel, no matter how attached and devastated we are, the bigger picture is that we don’t have to send dragons to war, we don’t have to go nuclear at all costs.” Rhaenys’s final act mirrored that of a samurai, making a noble last stand. She could have fled, but instead, she turned around to fulfill her moral and spiritual obligation. “To me, that was the moment where she felt very much like a samurai,” Best said. “It was that last stand of the noble warrior. She could have almost gotten away, and they could have maybe made everyone else deal with it. But she turns around because she knows that’s what she has to do, morally and spiritually.”
“There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kindred, and no war so bloody as a war between dragons.”
Rhaenys Targaryen’s words to her cousin Queen Rhaenyra in the Season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon proved to be tragically prophetic, when the courageous “Queen that Never Was” lost her life during the climax of episode 4, Battle of Rook’s Rest.
Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys were lured into a trap by Aemond Targaryen and Criston Cole. They fought a hellish battle, but Vhagar, the oldest and largest living dragon, was simply too powerful.
King Aegon and his dragon Sunfye were caught in the crossfire (or was it a deliberate attempt by Aemond to claim his brother’s throne?). Aegon seemed to survive (barely), but Meleys was badly injured before plummeting to the ground in a fiery explosion.
With one last look into her dragon’s eyes, Rhaenys accepted her fate and removed her hands from her armor, setting out as the fearless warrior she had always been.
Eve Best was asked during an interview with Variety, in which she explained why she felt Rhaenys decided to return to almost certain death when she had the chance to escape.
“The context of nuclear war was very, very useful, because that’s the equivalent for us. And I knew that when she proposed, she knew she had to take that responsibility, if anyone had that weight. It couldn’t be Rhaenyra. She had to do it. I think she knows she has to sacrifice herself for the team. Another journalist described her as Lancelot, Rhaenyra’s Lancelot, in many ways. I thought that was very fitting. There’s such a deep restraint. At the end of Season 1, she makes that conscious decision not to go to war, not to bomb everyone. Since then, everyone’s been saying, ‘Why didn’t you bomb them?’ Everyone takes it personally, and she’s looking at the bigger picture all the time. She’s standing up all the time, putting the personal aside, and rising above it.
The point is ultimately, no matter what we feel, no matter how attached and devastated we are, the bigger picture is that we don’t have to send dragons to war, we don’t have to go nuclear at all costs. So when she says, ‘I’m going to be the one to do this,’ she knows there’s no life after that. The choice to go, that second return to go with Vhagar — that’s an absolute kamikaze mission. To me, that was the moment where she felt very much like a samurai. It was that last stand of the noble warrior. She could have almost gotten away, and they could have maybe made everyone else deal with it. But she turns around because she knows that’s what she has to do, morally and spiritually.”
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“The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute height of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires—real and imagined—collapse from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow downfall begins nearly 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction throughout the realm.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 sees Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans reprise their respective roles. Other returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.
The directors for the new season are Alan Taylor (episodes 1 and 4), Clare Kilner (episodes 2 and 5), Geeta Patel (episodes 3 and 8), Andrij Parekh (episode 6) and Loni Peristere (episode 7).
