Who Is Rhaenyra’s Lady-in-Waiting Visiting in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2?

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 5.

The Big Picture

• Dyana’s return in
  House of the Dragon
  Season 2 could affect the Greens’ power in King’s Landing due to her unique insight.
• Dyana’s story reveals how little the nobility care about the smallfolk, not only because of her assault by Aegon but how quickly she was tossed aside by Alicent.
• House of the Dragon
  is emphasizing the power of smallfolk in the Targaryen civil war through characters like Dyana and Mysaria.

Although House of the Dragon Season 2 has primarily focused on the core Targaryen family and their civil war, Episode 5 hints at a larger plot that involves a far lesser-seen group of people: the smallfolk, aka the rest of us non-royals. The last few episodes have seen the smallfolk of King’s Landing, in particular, suffer time and time again. From farmers having their livestock tithed so that the Targaryens can feed their dragons (or, more specifically, Vhagar) to the Velaryon blockade locking out the city from getting food, the people of the realm are suffering for the squabbles of the highborn. Although they sympathized with Helaena (Phia Saban) over the loss of her son Jaehaerys, many more mothers are about to lose their children to starvation if they stay in the city. However, with the newly named King (Regent) Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) on the throne, the city is officially locked down to prevent the smallfolk from fleeing and spreading news of their discontent.

While both the Black and Green councils understand the importance of the smallfolk, no one understands their plight more than Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who is, herself, a lowborn woman. Although the Blacks are clearly on the back foot in this war, Mysaria might just be Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) secret weapon. Without many options, Rhaenyra and Mysaria send Rhaenyra’s lady-in-waiting, Elinda (Jordan Stevens), to King’s Landing on a special mission. And the woman Elinda meets with should be familiar if you’ve been paying attention to the series. Yes, that’s Dyana (Maddie Evans), the serving girl Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) sexually assaulted in Season 1 who is now working as a barmaid.

Who Is Dyana in ‘House of the Dragon’?

For those who don’t remember, Dyana first appeared in House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides,” as a young servant working for the royal family in the Red Keep. A member of the castle staff who both supplied wine to then-prince Aegon and took care of domestic tasks like dressing his children with then-princess Halaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), Dyana’s place in House of the Dragon’s story is unfortunately a tragic one. Informing Ser Erryk (Elliot Tittensor) of Aegon attacking her in his private chambers, Dyana soon stands before Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and confesses her son’s horrible crime. To Alicent’s credit, the Queen claims to believe Dyana, but she doesn’t hesitate to subsequently buy Dyana’s silence.

Presenting Dyana with a pouch of gold and a cup of birth control tea, Alicent terrifies Dyana by describing how others in the castle would blame her for the assault, dismissing the hurting girl with a cold expression and undoubtedly leaving Dyana scarred by her experience. What’s worse, Westeros’s patriarchal system guarantees that Aegon gets off with nothing more than a scolding, and while Alicent likely couldn’t have taken any serious action against her powerful son, Dyana isn’t likely to forget what the royal family did to her. As someone who has borne personal witness to King Aegon’s callousness and the Dowager Queen Alicent’s inaction, the Red Keep’s former servant has every reason to bear a grudge.

In Season 2 Episode 3, Dyana appears moments before Ulf (Tom Bennett) describes his alleged Targaryen lineage. She shows up briefly in the episode as a server at the tavern, quickly filling up drinks for Ulf and his friends (one of whom gropes her) before hurrying off-screen. In contrast to the loud, lively atmosphere of the bustling establishment, this House of the Dragon Season 1 character’s presence is largely understated, with no lines of dialogue or central actions to firmly root her in the scene. Yet, in a cruel twist of irony, Dyana also serves King Aegon II when he and his friends make their dramatic entrance into the tavern, looking visibly uncomfortable as she is forced to wait on the man who once raped her. And while Dyana is fortunate enough not to be noticed by Aegon as the king drowns himself in wine, her return could lead to unforeseen consequences for her former tormentor’s already troubled rule.

Dyana Is the Perfect Weapon for Mysaria and Rhaenyra To Use Against Aegon in ‘House of the Dragon’

While Dyana doesn’t appear to possess either title or status in Westeros’s society, she does have something that can be equally dangerous — information. At a time when Aegon’s murder of the ratcatchers in Episode 2 of House of the Dragon‘s current season has made his relationship with the smallfolk precarious, Dyana’s re-emergence feels like an ill omen for the young king’s reign. On the surface, she is a reminder of the human toll behind Aegon’s casual cruelty, but her experience in the Red Keep could also serve as an example to undermine the magnanimous image Aegon’s followers are attempting to create for him. As Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) points out at the end of Episode 2, Aegon’s recklessness cost the lives of the smallfolk’s fathers, sons, and brothers, so Dyana’s story could turn Westeros’s commoners against the Greens.

The series is certainly not giving Dyana a break. As though one instance of assault wasn’t enough, she is also harassed while serving drinks to Ulf’s friends, and just as how Aegon excuses his own assault of Dyana to Alicent when she confronts him, the man who assaults Dyana in House of the Dragon’s latest episode claims it was all for fun. Coupled with the fact that Aegon is in the same tavern as one of his victims without sparing her so much as a passing glance, Dyana has more reason than ever to be embittered over her low station in life. Moreover, her status as a member of the smallfolk may make it seem like she’s powerless, but as Mysaria points out, the smallfolk have more power than the nobility might realize.

‘House of the Dragon’ Is Beginning To Make the Smallfolk Feel Important

Both House of the Dragon and its predecessor, Game of Thrones, focus almost exclusively on the drama of Westeros’s most noble houses as they struggle to conquer the Iron Throne, but House of the Dragon Season 2 is beginning to upend the typical focus of both shows by featuring more prominent members of the smallfolk. The inclusion of both Hugh the Hammer (Kieran Bew) and Ulf the White in Season 2’s first episodes hints at the pair’s importance to the Targaryens’ imminent civil war, with Episode 5 putting special focus on Hugh and his wife as they try to escape King’s Landing with their ailing child. It’s revealed that although Aegon promised to pay Hugh gold for making his scorpion bolts, the money has not come.

As discontent rises within the city, which is now a veritable prison, Aemond and the Greens have never been so oblivious. And while certainly the people might be happier if there was no war, their reaction to the sight of Meleys’ head being paraded through the streets of King’s Landing says everything. From the procession in Episode 2, which saw the smallfolk pity and empathize with Helaena, this procession is eerily quiet, as the people know that one dead dragon only means revenge from Rhaenyra. As Mysaria says, “Criston Cole made a mistake. Parading a dragon’s head through the streets like a prize of war, but the people see an ill omen.” It’s a mistake that Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) likely never would have made. “They are afraid,” she continues. “Bread is scarce, the king has fallen, they whispered to each other that when Viserys lived, there was peace.”

Mysaria rightly points out that while the nobility fight their war, the thousands and thousands of people of King’s Landing have been forgotten and left to starve. “To the discontented, rumors are feed,” she says when Rhaenyra wonders if the people will turn to her. And while Daemon (Matt Smith) struggled with this ethos in Episode 5, Mysaria suggests that since Rhaenyra can not be the one seen herself spreading the rumors, Elinda is their perfect mouthpiece. And although King’s Landing has been shut down, the White Worm still has power. When Elinda arrives at the gates, she tells one of the Goldcloaks that she is there to collect a debt and they let her in.

Making her way through the streets of King’s Landing, we see Elinda knock on a door and who answers? Dyana. To the people so far, Aegon has seemed to be a benign leader. He’s listened to the smallfolk. He’s tried to help them where he can. He buys everyone drinks at the bar — he quite literally is a guy you’d like to get a beer with. But will they think the same when they learn the truth about what happened to Dyana? Aemond might ride the largest dragon in the world, but can the small handful of royals and nobility fight off a crazed mob of discontented civilians?

As the subject of Aegon’s inexcusable cruelty during Season 1, Dyana possesses a unique insight into just how evil the current occupant of the Iron Throne can be. Not only Aegon, but Alicent’s casual discarding of a serving girl who did nothing wrong is proof enough that the highborn don’t really care about the smallfolk. While there’s no certainty that the realm will believe Dyana’s sad story, no one knows the smallfolk better than Mysaria, and she’s right. To the discontented, rumors are all people will feed on if there’s no food to eat.

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