The 9th episode of House Of The Dragon surprised fans of this story in its last 5 minutes after a series of unexpected events.
The episode began with the announced death of King Viserys I and the conspiracy put together by “The Greens”, that is, Otto Hightower along with his daughter, Alicent Hightower, to crown Aegon II Targaryen as the successor to the Iron Throne above him. Rhaenyra who was not in KingLanding when all this was happening.
In that set of events, Rhaenys is kidnapped for the purpose of negotiating her support with ‘The Greens’. Alicent promises Rhaenys and her granddaughters Driftmark her perpetuity. But even so, Rhaenys refuses. She tells Alicent that she only serves the men in her life, that she doesn’t want to be free, but to make a window inside her prison wall.
The end of the episode, which has the coronation of Aegon II Targaryen as the main event, is surprised by the shocking appearance of Rhaenys riding her dragon Meleys, sending debris and people flying everywhere as if a bomb had exploded.
Rhaenys and Meleys stare at Aegon and her mother Alicent who closes her eyes surrendering to a terrible fate, but the ‘queen that never was’ decides to flee and fly to Dragonstone to meet Rhaenyra.
Why didn’t he yell ‘Dracarys’?
Many viewers hoped that King Viserys’s cousin would be able to do more with her dragon, given the opportunity that presented itself in the midst of Aegon II’s coronation. However, the decision she made has her reasons.
Actress Eve Best explained for an interview for IndieWire the next:
“Fuck them all! The temptation was there, right? In the end, she makes a more important decision. We are experiencing this right now with what is happening in Ukraine: choosing, not destroying is the best option. That’s an important thing for all of us to remember right now.”
He added, “Precisely that shows that she would have been a great leader. She had, at that moment, all the power. However, she has respect for Alicent as a woman and a mother”, explains the actress, who assures that her character made “the only correct option”. “Besides, she’s a smart choice, for her part not to burn down a bunch of innocent people in the room. What would she gain? In the end, it’s not her war,” she points out.
The actress recalled a phrase she told Rhaenyra at the beginning of the series about the tyranny of patriarchy is what prevails in Westeros.