Warning: Spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4
It is not controversial to argue that Princess Rhaenys Targaryen was one of the most admirable characters in House of the Dragon. House Targaryen would likely not have gone down the path of bloody civil war had the Queen Who Never Was been sat on the Iron Throne.
Rhaenys died as she lived: bravely, honorably, and with her head held high. Some would argue that the princess should have fled Rook’s Rest when the tide turned against her. However, leaving their allies to die and fleeing from the mission she took upon herself to undertake as the most experienced dragon rider with the largest dragon on Team Black was not in Rhaenys’ character. If there was a chance that she and Meleys could aid in speeding up the end of the war, and avenge Lucerys Velaryon in the process, she would take it, even to the detriment of herself.
It is hard to imagine someone who would have embodied Rhaenys better and with as much powerful grace as Eve Best. When asked about it in an interview, Best said she is most proud of the last scene she shot in the second season, which is Rhaenys’ last stand. She said the experience was “physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding.” She later commented on how she did not allow her feelings as an actress get in the way of what she had to do, “which is exactly what Rhaenys does. She just gets on with it.”
Saying Goodbye to the Queen Who Never Was
After season 2, episode 4 aired, the official House of the Dragon podcast released another episode, this time inviting Eve Best and director Alan Taylor as guests.
The first question the hosts asked her was about her feelings upon finding out what would happen to Rhaenys. According to Best, she did not go through the reading script upon receiving it, instead, she waited for the first table reading to find out the direction the story was going to take, and ultimately, her character’s fate.
In her words, she was “devastated” even though she “knew that it was coming,” due to the very nature of the series and the Game of Thrones franchise, which is known for killing off characters left and right. She recounted the moment she found out how Rhaenys would go out:
“When we did the read-through of season 2, we were given the scripts a few days before, and I didn’t read them deliberately because I thought I just wanted to respond to it in the moment without any kind of prep or judgment, which was a bit scary. And so it really hit me when it happened. It was devastating. And I felt like, “No!” Objectively, they are losing their best guy, their best chess piece. And plus, such a magnificent person, woman, and role model. They are amazing shoes to try and fill. So, yeah, agony to see her go down. Kind of felt a little bit like The Last Samurai, that amazing movie. When you’re watching this great noble character, and her dragon, going down. It was sad.”
As sad as it made her to learn about her character’s demise, Best nevertheless remarked in the episode Behind the Scenes that, since Rhaenys had to die, to perish on the back of a dragon in the middle of such an astounding battle of epic proportions was “quite a good way.”
It was undeniably one of the saddest moments in the series thus far, but it was also tragically beautiful as a tribute to Rhaenys, who, throughout the episode, reminded us one last time of all the noble characteristics that would have made her an extraordinary ruler.