The latest episode of HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ has left fans talking, and Eve Best has things to say about this.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
Rhaenys had a chance to wipe out her enemies but chose not to in Season 1. Eve Best, who plays Rhaenys, says this choice was like deciding not to start a nuclear war. For her, using dragons in battle is just as dangerous. So, when Rhaenys decides to fight, she knows she might not survive:
“We’d had a session where we talked about what was going on with her emotions because I felt very strongly that there were these really important beats that we needed to mark. In particular, the knowledge of the fact that it’s very likely a kamikaze mission. It has to be, because effectively, she’s starting a nuclear war, and she has been the one character throughout who’s done everything she can to stop them. Because she’s the one who knows from bitter experience.”
Best then explained that Rhaenys sees this battle as a necessary sacrifice. She thinks Rhaenys believes that she must take responsibility for the battle because she understands the consequences of war better than anyone else:
“When she had proposed herself, she knew she had to take that responsibility if anyone was going to have that weight. It couldn’t be Rhaenyra. She had to do it. I think she knows that she has to sacrifice herself for the team. … In the end of Season 1, she makes that conscious decision not to start a war, not to nuke everybody. Everyone ever since has been saying, ‘Why didn’t you nuke them?’ Everybody’s taking it personal, and she’s all the time looking at the bigger picture. All the time rising up, putting the personal aside, and rising above.”
So, Best thinks Rhaenys’ decision to fight is driven by her sense of duty. She knows that if someone has to make this choice, it should be her.
Rhaenys Had a Tough Journey
The fourth episode of the second season is titled ‘The Red Dragon and the Gold,’ and it brings a major twist to the story. The episode features a fierce battle at Rook’s Rest, and it’s the first planned fight between dragons — unlike the accidental one in Season 1 that killed Prince Lucerys.
In the episode, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) flies her dragon Meleys to the castle to help her daughter-in-law Rhaenyra. But things don’t go as planned. Prince Aemond and his brother King Aegon II ambush her. Aemond defeats Rhaenys riding Vhagar and takes control of the castle. He also kills his brother Aegon and Aegon’s dragon, Sunfyre.
Rhaenys was passed over for the Iron Throne in favor of her cousin Viserys at the beginning of the show. She also saw the deaths of her children. Rhaenys sides with Rhaenyra, but she always speaks against escalating the conflict.
This episode shows her move from trying to keep peace to accepting that she must fight, even if it means giving up her life.
