It’s rare that we get to witness the exact moment a character on screen runs out of effs to give, but Sunday’s House of the Dragon delivered.
During the Battle of Rook’s Rest, Rhaenys rode into the fray when everyone in Rhaenyra’s agreed that the fight was too risky a venture for the queen. Her elder relative suited up and flew her dragon, Meleys, over the battlefield, torching some of Aegon’s soldiers and winding up in a beast-to-beast battle with the king himself and his dragon, Sunfyre. But when Aemond and the flapping behemoth known as Vhagar entered the chat, it was all over. One-eyed psycho + dragon bigger than Montana = near death for Aegon and curtains for Rhaenys. (Read a full recap and then hear what Ewan Mitchell, who plays Aemond, has to say about those final moments.)
When the Queen Who Never Was realized that she was about to go to that Great Hall in the sky, the character calmly took her hands off the horn of her saddle and let her arms float as she and Meleys (also very dead) reached terminal velocity on their unexpected trip to the ground. There was no anger or fear on the face of Eve Best, who played the character for two seasons. “I think that’s the one moment that she suddenly — she finds peace,” Best told our sister site Variety . “Literally, letting go. She’s been carrying all her own stuff, and pretty much everybody else’s too, certainly for Season 2. The weight of this unimaginable burden, and just letting it go.”
Translation: Rhaenys had to deal with everyone else’s ridiculousness for so long, falling to her death on the back of a dragon seemed like a more relaxing alternative . She knew it. Hell, Meleys knew it. If the look the longtime companions shared before the dragon died were close-captioned, it could’ve read:
I’ve seen lots of social media posts praising Rhaenys for dying like a warrior, like a hero, like someone unafraid to go up against a giant. All fair, all true. But when I watched that shot of Rhaenys slowly slipping out of the foreground, arms aloft, I mostly saw a tired woman who just kinda wished people had listened to her a little more.
We mourn a relatable Queen Who Never Was (but really probably shoulda been)!
Rhaenys’ final look said, “Welp, guess I never get to verbally slap down Daemon again.” It said, “If my family didn’t recycle names so often, this all could have been avoided.” It said, “I knit the waterlogged pieces of my at-least-once-unfaithful husband back together after a near-fatal shipwreck for this ?”
By the light of the Seven, this injustice shall not stand. If Laenor can fake his death and have a secretly happy ending , I’m going to write one for his mom, too. Let’s all pretend that Rhaenys somehow survived that fall, crept away under the cover of smoke and somehow surreptitiously crossed the Narrow Sea to Pentos, where she sold amber wine in a tavern by the shore and had a succession of strapping lovers, all of whom — most importantly — listened, rapt, to her very good counsel.
Are you with me in missing Rhaenys already? If so, write your own non-fatal ending for the character in the comments below.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Most Popular
Comments / 0