« House of the Dragon » sent Rhaenys and Meleys into battle. Eve Best broke down Rhaenys’ death scene, and what dragon warfare really means in Westeros.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season two, episode four of « House of the Dragon. »
Princess Rhaenys Targaryen knew that she was embarking on a suicide mission.
At least, according to Eve Best, the actor who’s played Rhaenys for a season and a half on « House of the Dragon. » Best’s Rhaenys is pragmatic and a bit chivalric — and given that she could have burned King Aegon II to a crisp in season one and chose not to, it feels almost like penance that she’s the one who must introduce dragons to the battlefield in season two.
In episode four, Ser Criston Cole marches on Rook’s Rest, a modest castle close to Dragonstone. It’s a blatant provocation, but it works: Rhaenyra knows that she needs to send a dragon to counter Cole. Though both Rhaenyra and her son Jacaerys volunteer to go, it’s Rhaenys who claims the responsibility.
« You must send me, Your Grace », Rhaenys says, leaving little room for argument. And in the moment, even for those who didn’t already know Rhaenys’ fate, her departure feels profoundly final. Rhaenys will not — and does not — return from this mission.
Best spoke with Business Insider about Rhaenys’ decision, the implications of unleashing dragon warfare in Westeros, and the practicalities of filming emotional sequences while on mechanical dragonback.Rhaenys was the only choice to fly to Rook’s Rest
In season one, Rhaenys escapes King’s Landing with her dragon Meleys, bursting into King Aegon’s coronation on dragonback. In that moment, she decides not to kill him, telling Daemon that the war was not hers to start.
Best says showrunner Ryan Condal told her that in the world of « House of the Dragon », dragons are akin to nuclear weapons.
« She deliberately, at the end of episode nine, chose not to start a nuclear war, very rightly », Best told BI. « And she spent the whole of season two doing everything she possibly can to steer everybody away from nuclear war.
